Just days before the first Republican presidential debate, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy says the current frontrunner, former President Donald J. Trump should drop out of the race. Trump currently faces 92 criminal charges across four separate cases:
- Classified Documents Case – 40 charges
- Hush Money Case – 34 charges
- Election Interference, Federal Case – 4 charges
- Election Interference, GA Case – 14 charges
“I think Joe Biden needs to be replaced, but I don’t think Americans will vote for someone who has been convicted,” Cassidy said on CNN’s State of the Union, pointing out that Trump seems most likely to be convicted in the mishandling of classified documents case. “He will lose to Joe Biden if you look at the current polls.” When asked directly if Trump should drop out of the race, Cassidy responded, “I think so.”
This isn’t the first time Cassidy has gone against the majority of his fellow Republicans. Following Trump’s impeachment after Jan. 6, Cassidy was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump on the charge of incitement of an insurrection. “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty,” Cassidy said in a statement following the trial.
Cassidy isn’t the only one who feels Trump should drop out of the race. Recently, two prominent conservative law professors and constitutional scholars who are active members of the Federalist Society have argued that Trump is ineligible to serve as President. William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St. Thomas argue that a constitutional provision barring people who have engaged in an insurrection from holding government office applies to Trump due to his role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Section Three of the 14th Amendment states:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
“Donald Trump cannot be president – cannot run for president, cannot become president, cannot hold office – unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan 6,” Professor Baude said.
