President Joe Biden said Tuesday he has no issue with Donald Trump being on state ballots as opponents of the former president work across the country to disqualify him from public office under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”
“As far as I’m concerned, that’s fine,” Biden said, responding to a question about whether Trump should be on the ballot. Previously, Biden said Trump supported an insurrection on January 6, 2021, but that it was up to the court system to decide whether that should disqualify him from running for president.
The question of whether Trump should be on the ballot has been posed to state court and election officials across the country. Colorado and Maine have removed Trump from their 2024 presidential ballots, citing Trump’s activities surrounding January 6, though those decisions have been paused pending the outcome of Trump’s appeal of the Colorado case to the US Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments next week.
The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, says Americans who swear to uphold the Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection” are barred from future office. The provision is vague and doesn’t say how such bans should be enforced, and legal experts expect the US Supreme Court will decide the issue for the country.
In December, following the ruling by Colorado’s Supreme Court, Biden said it was “self-evident” that Trump is an insurrectionist but deferred to courts about whether the 14th Amendment was an appropriate remedy.
“But he certainly supported an insurrection. There’s no question about it. None. Zero,” Biden said. “He seems to be doubling down on everything.”
