Challenging Trump on the ballot

NPR’s Adrian Ma speaks with law professor Harry Litman about former President Donald Trump being removed from Maine’s primary ballot and the prospect of the Supreme Court weighing in on the issue.

ADRIAN MA, HOST:

It’s been another big week of news for next year’s presidential election. Maine became the second state to disqualify former president and current Republican front-runner Donald Trump from its primary ballot. That decision was made by Maine’s secretary of state, Democrat Shenna Bellows. And to explain why, she cited a provision in the 14th Amendment, which was written right after the Civil War. And this provision prohibits a person from holding office if they’ve engaged in insurrection against the United States. Shenna Bellows says Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election count as insurrection, and therefore, he’s disqualified. Now, earlier this month, Colorado’s state Supreme Court disqualified Trump from its primary ballot for the same reason, and there are currently lawsuits percolating in more than a dozen other states making the same argument.

All of this, of course, raises some pretty thorny questions of constitutional law, and many legal experts are calling for the Supreme Court to weigh in. So just to help us right now navigate this legal thicket, we’re joined by constitutional law professor Harry Litman. He was also a deputy assistant attorney general during the Bill Clinton administration. Harry Litman, thanks for joining us.

HARRY LITMAN: My pleasure. Thanks for having me, Adrian.

MA: So, Harry, from a legal point of view, what is your reaction to Maine’s secretary of state’s decision to disqualify Trump from its primary ballot?

LITMAN: Well, I think the big point is just that they were number two. And in terms of the Supreme Court, the fact of inconsistency, a patchwork pattern in the States overall, I think it’s likely to, you know, give them the heebie-jeebies, as it were. And I think it…