David Axelrod says trying to keep Trump off the ballot would ‘rip country apart’ as Sen. Lindsey Graham says ex-president has ‘legitimate claim’ for immunity from January 6 prosecution
Warnings continue to come from both sides of the political spectrum about the state questioning Donald Trump's ability to appear on the ballot in 2024, with former Obama adviser David Axelrod predicting the efforts will 'tear the US apart' '.
Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump's claim that he should have immunity from prosecution in connection with January 6 cases is “legitimate” because he was not involved in the riots at the Capitol that day.
Colorado and Maine ruled last month that Trump will be disqualified from running in their states' presidential elections because of his role in the insurrection. But a quick challenge from Colorado Republicans is to keep his name on the primary ballot for now β unless the Supreme Court rules upholding the state's decision to remove him from the race.
The Michigan Supreme Court has decided to keep Trump on the ballot in the key swing state.
βI have very, very serious reservations about all of this,β said Axelrod, the senior White House adviser to former President Barack Obama.
“I really think the country would tear apart if he were actually prevented from running for office, because tens of millions of people want to vote for him,” Axelrod told CNN on Friday. βI think if you want to beat Donald Trump, you're going to have to do it in the election.β
David Axelrod, once a senior adviser to Barack Obama, said efforts to keep Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot will 'tear the country apart'
Trump is facing challenges from several states seeking to keep him off their ballots in 2024 β but Democrats fear these efforts will make him more of a 'political martyr'
Several states claim that Trump is disqualified from appearing on the ballot under Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment because he “engaged in an insurrection.”
But Republicans say he cannot be disqualified under this clause because Trump has not been charged with insurrection.
βIf you're doing your job as president, and he was still president on January 6, and you're trying to figure out if the election is up, then I think his immunity claim is flawed. I know how it's going to turn out, but I think it's a legitimate claim,” Senator Graham, who endorsed Trump, told CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on Sunday.
βBut they are prosecuting him for activities around January 6th,β the Republican senator added. βHe didn't break into the Capitol. He gave a fiery speech, but he's not the first person to ever do that.β
βSo ultimately I don't think this case will go to trial before the election,β Graham predicted.
“But just to be clear, you don't believe that a president should be immune from prosecution if he has committed a crime?” Brennan pushed.
βWell, it depends β anyway. I mean, no one is immune from the law, but you do have presidential immunity to do your job,β he explained. βI mean, I have immunity to do my job under the Speech and Debate Clause. That's the legal problem. This was presented to the nation through impeachment. He was acquitted.'
βI think January 6 is baked into the cake,β Graham continued.
'We'll see what the court does. Ultimately, Donald Trump is in a good position to win the Republican primaries because Republicans think he has had a good presidency. And I think he can win the general election. And all these things β like in Maine, which made him ineligible to run for office, the secretary of state in Maine is a pretty radical person.β
Sen. Lindsey Graham, an early proponent of Trump's 2024 bid, said the ex-president has a “legitimate claim” to immunity for Jan. 6 cases because he was not directly involved in the insurrection and was performing his presidential duties that day conducted to investigate the matter. whether there was foul play in the 2020 election
Democrats, including Axelrod, are concerned that the latest efforts to prevent Trump from running in 2024 will only make him a “political martyr” and shore up his support in both this year's primaries and general election.
Axelrod said the effort to get Trump off the ballot will “empower him in the Republican primaries.”
He also predicted Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Trump's case “fairly quickly” and leave him “on the ballot.”
The 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court panel β three of which were appointed by Trump β will likely move to keep the ex-president on the ballot in 2024.