The North Carolina Board of Elections claims it has the power to prevent Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) from running for re-election because of his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building.
Liberal activists had filed the challenge last month using an obscure “disqualification clause” in the Constitution — Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment — which was ratified after the Civil War to prevent Confederate officials and those who supported “insurrection” from returning to office.
The problem for the activists is that Cawthorn never supported an “insurrection.”
Cawthorn, who has denied any wrongdoing regarding January 6, filed a federal lawsuit last week to shut down the challenge. The elections board, in its court filing, said his lawsuit is premature and should be dismissed. The board also said it has the power to disqualify candidates based on constitutional considerations, not just based on state laws.
“States have long enforced age and residency requirements, without question and with very few if any legal challenges,” the board wrote. “The State has the same authority to police which candidates should or should not be disqualified per Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Did Cawthorn take part in an “insurrection” that would disqualify him from holding office?
Cawthorn was nowhere near the rioters on Jan. 6. He spoke to the 120,000 Trump supporters gathered on the ellipse prior to the riot. During his speech, he said nothing that could be construed as advocating for “insurrection” or revolution.
Related: The Democrats’ Exploitation of January 6 Gives Away Their Game
The liberal challenge to his candidacy is ludicrous.
Liberal activists who have mounted the effort to disqualify his candidacy say Cawthorn stoked violence and aided the insurrectionists. Days before the attack on the US Capitol, he said it was “time to fight.” And at the January 6, 2021, rally at the Ellipse, he railed against the “cowards” in Congress who planned to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
Cawthorn will probably have to go through the entire sham of a hearing in court before a more rational judge tosses the challenge. Meanwhile, the liberal activists have now tarred Cawthorn as an “insurrectionist.”
Will anyone believe them?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member