• Stovetop@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      He is able to be elected president again, as (for better or worse) being a convicted felon is not one of the disqualifying criteria for that office.

      Several US states invoked the 14th Amendment as grounds to disqualify him, but the Republican-controlled Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that only the US Congress has the authority to make that determination. Which, divided as Congress is right now, could never happen.

      • dudinax@programming.dev
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        3 months ago

        It’s an incorrect ruling. States have always been the judges of legal qualification for office.

        Congress has it’s own method to disqualify someone: impeachment.

        • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I agree, but unfortunately the Supreme Court’s word is (literally) law. There is no avenue to contest that short of passing another amendment with more teeth than the 14th, or waiting for a less-biased court to re-evaluate the ruling.

      • KazuyaDarklight@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        One of those loopholes born of the founding fathers just never expecting us to be that stupid. A constitutional “this is why we have dumb warnings on the box” moment if you will.

        • grue@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          No, that was a deliberate choice in order to prevent people in power from being able to silence their political opponents by locking them up on trumped-up charges. (See e.g. Alexei Navalny)

          The real reason Trump shouldn’t be eligible to hold office is because of his coup attempt and the Insurrection Clause, not his 34 felony convictions.