Alito's Sly Warning About Biden in CO Ballot DQ Oral Argument

Justice Samuel Alito contemplated whether the application of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to presidents might pave the way for states to remove a president such as Joe Biden if accused of giving "aid or comfort to the enemies" of the United States.

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"Suppose there is a country that proclaims again and again and again that the United States is its biggest enemy," said Alito. "And suppose that the president of the United Sates, for diplomatic reasons, thinks that it is in the best interest of the United States to provide funds or release funds so that they can be used by that country."

"Could a state determine that that person has given aid and comfort to the enemy and therefore keep that person off of the ballot?" asked Alito.

Ed Morrissey

That caught my ear during the oral arguments, too. I had expected one of the justices to use the border crisis as a type of "insurrection" or siding with an invasion of the US, but I think Alito's hypothetical was more on point. Jason Murray seemed flustered by the question and the potential implications of "aid and comfort to the enemy," but eventually said it would have to result from an unmistakable declared war. But then, why shouldn't "insurrection" carry the same caveat, requiring an unmistakable declaration of insurrection?

Duane and I discuss this in today's Week in Review, too. 

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