Turley Warns Dem Weaponization of 14th Amendment 'Slippery Slope'

When it comes to disqualifying political opponents from the traditional democratic process under the pretense that they were involved in an “insurgency,” there is no limit to how far a ruthless and unprincipled Democratic Party will go.

In a stark warning that using the 14th Amendment to bar Republican front-runner Donald J. Trump from state ballots is just the beginning, legal scholar Jonathan Turley said efforts to prevent the former president from running are a “slippery slope” that could threaten. American democracy itself.

The George Washington University School of Law professor and Fox News contributor appeared on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” where he explained that the chaos at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 was more of a riot than the exaggerated claims that it was a true “insurrection” with serious possibilities of overthrowing the government.

“The biggest issue for me is that the 14th Amendment, Section Three, is about rebellion and/or insurrection. That wasn't either. It was a riot, and at some point mature minds have to step in here and say, look, he hasn't even been charged with incitement, let alone rebellion and insurrection,” Turley explained. “But more importantly, leaving aside the fact that he has not been convicted, this was not a rebellion or an insurrection. I know the other side has tried very hard to portray it that way, but the American people don't even see it that way. Polls indicate that the public sees it as a protest that turned into a riot. It doesn't excuse what happened.”

“We've had violent protests in this country. There were violent protests when Trump was inaugurated. And at that time, there were Democratic members who voted not to certify Donald Trump. Were they also rebels? What they're suggesting here is really of a other world,” he continued.

“If this is the new theory, it will be replicated, it will metastasize throughout the country. I have a column in the New York Post about the new effort to ban the congressman [Scott] Perry under the same theory that Democratic members of Congress have called for banning dozens of Republican members of Congress under the same theories. This is the slippery slope we are about to tread…,” he warned.

“It's an occasional policy,” Turley said. “And the most terrible thing is that this is the most successful and stable democracy in the history of the world. And yet, after this long run of success, today you have blind advocates trying to introduce an instability into this system that could destroy it. This is the kind of theory that can destroy a democracy.”

In his new column, Professor Turley went into detail about the effort to ban Rep. Scott as well using the same dubious legal theory.

… However, these challenges come largely from Democratic activists such as the effort to ban Rep. Perry from the ballot. https://t.co/LJiIm56WUa Most support for the effort remains within the Democratic Party, according to polls. That's why a defense of democracy…

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 5, 2024

“If challenges work, there's no reason why they can't be used unilaterally against any candidate (and without criminal charges, let alone convictions). It's instantly executed and self-fulfilling. It would make democracy more successful of the world on a slippery slope to political chaos,” Turley wrote.

“This is why the Supreme Court must address this issue and put to bed this pernicious theory once and for all,” he added.

That Democrats will continue to hammer the fallacy of “insurgency” as a key to the door to total power was evident from President Joe Biden's nasty tirade on the third anniversary of January 6, a day that has used as the American version of the infamous. Reichstag fire to eliminate his political enemies.

Biden: We are the only nation in the history of the world built on an idea. We have never strayed from the idea. And I promise you that I will not let Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans force us to leave now pic.twitter.com/BMIhLjrUIZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 5, 2024

Biden's demagogic speech was reminiscent of the kind of agitation often heard in German beer halls in the early 1930s and, like the Democrats' use of the Civil War-era provision to ban political opposition, it has no place in a functioning democracy.

Staff writer

Chris Donaldson is an ordinary, ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who despise our hard-won freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.

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