The state decisions barring former President Donald Trump from the ballot under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment are a severe problem for the Supreme Court, said conservative commentator Charlie Sykes on MSNBC Monday.
But ultimately, he said, Chief Justice John Roberts and much of the rest of the court will try to find a way out that doesn't require them to uphold those decisions.
"Whether you read the words [of the amendment] as they were meant — as they were written or whether you fully understand the intent of the amendment because it was after the Civil War, it was actually about that, you would come to the same conclusion," said anchor Ali Velshi. "This isn't some weird thing that the people who wrote the amendment weren't thinking about. It's kind of exactly what they were thinking about."
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"No, I agree completely, but what the court should do is not necessarily the same thing as what it will do," said Sykes. "What are the justices thinking? They're thinking they do not want to be put in the middle of this."
"This is John Roberts' worst nightmare," Sykes continued. "This is exactly the kinds of things that Supreme Court justices don't really like to do." Despite the fact that Trump's argument that he isn't really an "officer" of the Constitution is "completely ludicrous" and "laughable," he said, "These are the kinds of off-ramps that justices who do not want to be in the middle of this are likely to take."
"I agree with you," he added. "I think the language is clear. I think the application is clear. The court should apply the 14th Amendment. I think it's highly unlikely they will because despite all the protestations about being originalists, ultimately, the court is a political body as well as a legal body, and I just don't think they're going to do this. Which means that, ultimately, the final guardrail is still going to be the American public in November. I don't know that they're going to say this, and anyone who expects the Supreme Court will save us from this is engaged in wish casting."
Watch the video below or at the link here.