“President Trump did not commit an insurrection,” Mr. Gaetz said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a resolution on Feb. 6 to “authoritatively” state that former President Donald Trump did not commit “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The issue of insurrection has been raised in some 60 venues over the past six months and in two days will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court as activists have contended that President Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, preclude him from running for office based on a Civil War-era statute.
“President Trump did not commit an insurrection,” Mr. Gaetz said. “Congress has a unique role in making that declaration. It’s not the job of the states and especially not the job of some bureaucrats in Colorado to make this assessment and interfere with the rights of voters to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice.”
The bill now has 63 co-sponsors, and Mr. Gaetz added that “many more” are expected to join in the coming days. Many who joined Mr. Gaetz to announce the resolution at a press conference were vocal supporters of President Trump, echoing his claims that the effort has been part of a “political witch hunt.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said the challenges to President Trump’s eligibility on the basis that Jan. 6 was an insurrection are the work of “extreme Democrats” who are “shredding the Constitution in the process.”
Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) claimed the ballot disqualification effort was a “desperate fourth-quarter Hail Mary” to knock down the leading Republican candidate.
“To block him from any ballot in any state is election interference, pure and simple,” said Mr. Babin.
Other representatives stated that Jan. 6 was not an insurrection, and President Trump held no responsibility for any violence that occurred that day.
Congress and Section 3
The 14th Amendment was ratified in the wake of the Civil War, granting citizenship and equal rights to all those born and naturalized in the United States.
