The Insurrection Case Against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

With Colorado and now Maine having removed Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot due to his engaging in a so-called “insurrection” on January 6, 2021, in violation of the Constitution’s 14^th Amendment, Republicans across red states should join the fray and move to disqualify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the same grounds. We should make a bipartisan effort out of destroying our democracy in order to save it. 

To engage in this brave journey you must ignore the fact that the states likely do not have the authority to adjudicate the eligibility question, since it was certain states that engaged in the original insurrection that spawned the 14^th Amendment in the first place, that the amendment does not apply to Trump, as the former president was not an “officer” of the U.S. as that term is defined under the Constitution, that the relevant clause of the 14^th Amendment may not be self-executing and instead requires congressional action, that adequate due process was not afforded to Trump in any of the proceedings, and that the plaintiffs in Colorado and Maine lacked standing to bring the cases, and so on.

Now that we got that out of the way, we must harken back to the summer of 2020, when Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa were engaging in a mostly peaceful insurrection across America, following the death of George Floyd. One of the most notable attacks occurred at the White House in May where then President Trump was briefly taken to the presidential bunker due to violence engaged in by the peace-loving mob. Insurrectionists smashed barricades, torched buildings and cars, hurled projectiles, and attacked law enforcement officers, injuring approximately 150 of them according to news reports, more than were injured at the Capitol on January 6^th. However, unlike the police who failed to secure the Capitol, the Secret Service and U.S. Park Police kept the Molotov cocktail wielding flower children out of the West Wing.

In response to this open rebellion against the sitting president, Kamala Harris tweeted, “People are in pain. We must listen.” Her future boss said in the day leading up to the attack about Floyd’s death, “None of us can turn away. None of us can be silent.” Biden went on to note how, “The anger and frustration and the exhaustion is undeniable.” Never mind that Biden, like Trump, also called for peace prior to the violence. No matter, we know what Biden really meant, and his intent was manifested by those who assaulted the White House.

Biden and Harris also provided consistent rhetorical support for the otherwise temperate insurrectionists across America during that summer of loathing. Biden, while fanning the flames of discontent, referred to police engaging in “systemic racism” and using “excessive violence.” Harris, not to be outdone, said of the BLM uprising, “[T]hey’re not going to stop and everyone beware, because they’re not going to stop. They’re not going to let up and they should not, and we should not.” And they didn’t.

The BLM revolt was among the most destructive in American history, resulting in over 2,000 police officers injured, over $2 billion in damages, and over 25 people dead. Biden and Harris also publicly supported the Minnesota Freedom Fund which received approximately $35 million and was used to bail out insurrectionists and other criminals after they tranquilly ransacked American cities, and many of them were not even wearing masks at the time, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Moving forward, plaintiffs should bring the case against Biden and Harris before a Republican secretary of state with a naked ambition for higher office, a blatant conflict of interest in violation of state law, having declared Biden and Harris guilty before the proceedings even start, along with the secretary’s pledged support to the Republican presidential nominee, all topped off with a complete ignorance of the law. If that fails, just make sure to file the suit in a state whose supreme court is packed with judges all appointed by Republican governors, just to be safe. And never mind that the special counsel investigating Biden (yes, there is one) has not charged him with insurrection, despite having had ample opportunity to do so.

With all this in mind, Republicans should exercise raw governmental power for purely partisan purposes and save our democracy by removing the ability of voters to pick the candidates of their choice.