If SCOTUS caves to MAGA threats then 'we don't have a Constitution anymore': ex-judge

The threat of political violence hangs over the U.S. Supreme Court case to determine Donald Trump's eligibility for the ballot, and a retired conservative judge warned that was precisely why the justices must disqualify the former president.

Trump has appealed the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that disqualifies him under the U.S. Constitution's insurrection clause, and MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski raised the possibility that his supporters would not peacefully accept a decision that kept him off the 2024 ballot – and retired federal judge Michael Luttig said that underscored the issue the justices must decide.

"The disqualification of the former president is not what is anti-democratic, rather, the Constitution tells us that it is his insurrection against the Constitution, that is anti-democratic," Luttig told "Morning Joe." "Our Constitution could be characterized as anti-democratic in many, many different ways, foremost among which is that the Constitution guarantees us certain rights against the democratic process, so, but in this case, in particular, it's the people through the ratification of Section 3 that decided that one who engages in an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States is ineligible to hold higher office."

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Luttig isn't certain that a ruling against Trump would spark violence, but that possibility showed why the former president must never be allowed to hold public office again.

"I don't really believe that if the Supreme Court disqualifies the former president that it will lead to rioting in the streets," Luttig said. "On the other hand, what I would say is this: If the Supreme Court rules that he is qualified, 75 percent of America will accept that decision as the final decision about our Constitution. So I am only concerned about the 20 percent, if that, that would not accept the decision from the Supreme Court, exactly the way they did not accept the results of the last election."

"But the question for America, not just the Supreme Court, is, you know, can we allow ourselves to be held hostage by threats of violence upon a Supreme Court decision?" the retired judge added. "If we are going to do that, we don't have a Constitution anymore."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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