Then-U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to supporters near the White House on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The decision comes ahead of a highly anticipated U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a Colorado challenge to the 2024 GOP front-runner’s candidacy based on the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.
An Illinois judge ruled Wednesday that former U.S. President Donald Trump cannot appear on the state’s presidential primary and general election ballots because of his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Judge Tracie Porter of the State Circuit Court in Cook County sided with Illinois voters who asserted that Trump—the 2024 GOP front-runner—must be disqualified from Illinois’ March 19 primary and November 5 general election ballots due to his violation of the 14th Amendment’s so-called “insurrection clause.”
Porter, a Democrat, placed a stay on her ruling if Trump appeals by Thursday, or if the U.S. Supreme Court issues a highly anticipated ruling in a Colorado case involving a 14th Amendment challenge.
“This is a historic victory,” said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, the co-lead counsel in the case. “Every court or official that has addressed the merits of Trump’s constitutional eligibility has found that he engaged in insurrection after taking the oath of office and is therefore disqualified from the presidency.”
Thank you @FSFP for continuing to fight for the continued viability of American democracy. https://t.co/Mn9qPdThcM
Enacted after the Civil War, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars from public office any “officer of the United States” who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution but then participates in an insurrection or rebellion against the country. The text does not require a criminal conviction for the clause to apply.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Caryn Lederer called the ruling “a critical decision that is adding to decisions in Colorado and Maine on this point.”
Last month, a Maine judge deferred a ruling on yet another insurrection clause challenge, citing the Supreme Court’s Colorado case.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, said that “today, an activist Democrat judge in Illinois summarily overruled the state’s Board of Elections and contradicted earlier decisions from dozens of other state and federal jurisdictions.”
“This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal,” he added.
According to The New York Times, courts in at least 18 states have dismissed or rejected efforts to exclude Trump from the ballot on 14th Amendment grounds, while unresolved challenges remain in 15 states.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claims “There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we’ve got to collectively, all of us, change that urgently.” Sunak is recognised as a war criminal due to his complicity in genocide.
A supporter of the “Listen to Michigan” campaign places a sign on the podium during an election night watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on February 27, 2024. (Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
The results “represent a historic inflection point for creating a Democratic Party that aligns with the majority of its voters who want a cease-fire,” said one organizer.
More than 100,900 Michigan voters marked “uncommitted” on their ballots during the swing state’s Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, a signal to President Joe Biden that his continued support for Israel’s war on Gaza is angering key elements of his base and potentially threatening his reelection chances.
Leaders and supporters of the Listen to Michigan campaign made clear that their goal was not to harm Biden’s general election prospects, but rather to convince him to change course on Gaza, where the U.S.-armed Israeli military has killed nearly 30,000 people in less than five months.
In 2020, Biden defeated former President Donald Trump—his likely general election opponent in November—by 150,000 votes, and Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton four years earlier by roughly 11,000 votes.
“We need Joe Biden to listen to the voice of Michiganders,” Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan and the sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), told reporters late Tuesday. “Listen to the voice of his core constituents and demand a permanent cease-fire now and the ending of this unconditional, unchecked funding to Israel.”
Biden handily won Michigan’s primary on Tuesday with just over 81% of the vote. But “uncommitted” garnered the support of over 13% of primary voters, beating Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and far surpassing organizers’ expectations. By comparison, fewer than 20,000 Michigan voters chose “uncommitted” in the 2020 Democratic primary.
In Hamtramck and Dearborn—cities with strong Arab American and Muslim populations—the incumbent Democratic president lost to “uncommitted” by significant margins on Tuesday. Many Michigan residents have lost family members to Israel’s war on Gaza, which the Biden administration has fueled with weapons and diplomatic support.
“Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his reelection due to the war in Gaza,” the Listen to Michigan campaign wrote on social media. “President Biden has funded the bombs falling on the family members of people who live right here in Michigan. People who voted for him, who now feel completely betrayed. President Biden, listen to Michigan. Count us out, Joe.”
“Count Michigan uncommitted for funding of war and genocide in Gaza,” the campaign continued. “While we’ve noticed a small shift in language from Biden as a direct result of this campaign’s pressure, we know that his words are not enough. This isn’t a messaging problem, this is a funding bombs problem.”
Stressing that “we don’t want a Trump presidency,” the campaign said Biden “has put [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu ahead of American democracy.”
“The only way to achieve freedom and justice for Palestinians surviving a genocide is through an immediate and permanent cease-fire. The only way to ensure the safe return of all hostages and prisoners is through an immediate and permanent cease-fire,” Listen to Michigan continued. “Our delegation plans to hold the Democratic nominee accountable to our community’s anti-war agenda at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. See you there.”
“Quite frankly, none of us want Trump to win, which is exactly why we’re doing this.”
Organizers said late Tuesday that they expect “uncommitted” to receive at least one delegate to the Democratic convention. The New York Times noted that “under Michigan’s Democratic primary rules, candidates can receive delegates by earning at least 15% of the vote in a specific congressional district.”
In a statement on the primary results, Biden thanked “every Michigander who made their voice heard today” but did not specifically acknowledge the “uncommitted” campaign, which faced last-minute attacks from a billionaire-funded AIPAC ally that is also working to unseat progressive Democratic lawmakers who have backed a cease-fire in Gaza.
A survey released Tuesday by Data for Progress found that 57% of likely U.S. voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict and 67%—including 77% of Democrats—support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
Elabed said Tuesday that the primary results “represent a historic inflection point for creating a Democratic Party that aligns with the majority of its voters who want a cease-fire and end to unrestricted weapons funding for Israel’s war and occupation against the Palestinian people.”
Gaby Santiago-Romero, a member of the Detroit City Council and supporter of the Listen to Michigan campaign, told the Times that “we are no longer in a position to beg Democrats to listen to us.”
“Quite frankly, none of us want Trump to win, which is exactly why we’re doing this,” said Santiago-Romero. “This is the only way we can raise a flag to Democrats that you are going to lose unless you call for an ultimate cease-fire.”
A Palestinian stands on top of a mosque destroyed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
LABOUR councillors in two London boroughs have been suspended and face disciplinary action for backing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Lambeth Council’s Labour administration suspended four of its councillors today, including Jewish councillor Martin Abrams and a Hindu representative, for supporting a motion calling for a ceasefire.
Mr Abrams is an outspoken Jewish pro-Palestinian activist and spokesman for the left-wing Momentum campaign group.
He said: “My vote for the ceasefire motion was a matter of conscience for me.
“My great grandparents were persecuted and driven from Eastern Europe over 100 years ago in the pogroms of Kiev and came to this country as refugees with nothing, leaving and losing many close family in the process.
“It is exactly this history of persecution of my close ancestors in Europe over the ages that meant I was brought up to always stand with the oppressed and against oppression and when I say never again, I mean never again: for everybody.”
A Momentum spokesperson said:“This is an outrageous attack on a Jewish Labour councillor for having the temerity to stand up for the people of Gaza.
A person signs a bus wrapped with an image of former President Donald Trump during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 22, 2024. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The event began on Feb. 21, 2024, in National Harbor, Maryland, with Steve Bannon’s routine, untrue banter about how President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election, and it peaked with an angry speech from Trump three days later. In between, I sat among the MAGA masses listening to speaker after speaker express outrage about American decline – and their hope for Trump’s reelection.
Everywhere I turned, people wore MAGA regalia – hats, pins, logos and patches, many with Trump’s likeness. I spent breaks in the exhibition hall, which featured a Jan. 6 insurrection-themed pinball machine featuring “Stop the Steal,” “Political Prisoners” and “Babbitt Murder” rally modes and a bus emblazoned with Trump’s face. Admirers scribbled messages on the bus such as, “We have your back” and “You are anointed and appointed by God to be the President.”
Those on the left who dismiss the CPAC as a gathering of MAGA crazies and racists who support a wannabe dictator do not understand that, from this far-right perspective, there are compelling and even urgent reasons to support Trump. Indeed, they believe, as conservative politician Tulsi Gabbard stated in her CPAC speech on Feb. 22, that the left’s claims about Trump’s authoritarianism are “laughable.” This is because CPAC attendees falsely perceive President Joe Biden as the one who is attacking democracy.
Here are my top three takeaways from CPAC about Trump supporters’ current priorities and thinking.
People pray during the opening ceremony of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 22, 2024. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
1. There’s a Reagan dinner – but CPAC is Trump’s party
Former President Ronald Reagan runs in CPAC’s DNA. Reagan spoke at the inaugural CPAC in 1974 and went on to speak there a dozen more times.
In 2019, the conservative advocacy group the American Political Union, which hosts CPAC, published a book of Reagan’s speeches with commentary by conservative luminaries. In the preface, Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Political Union, says he often asks himself, “What would Reagan do?”
CPAC’s pomp gala, held Friday, is still called the “Ronald Reagan Dinner.” But Reagan is otherwise hardly mentioned at the conference.
Reagan’s ideas of American exceptionalism have been supplanted by Trump’s populist story of apocalyptic decline. Reagan’s folksy tone, relative moderation and clear quips are long gone, replaced by fury, grievance and mean-spirited barbs.
2. There’s a method to the madness
Many commentators and critics, including groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, view CPAC as a frightening or bizarre gathering of white nationalists who have a nativist agenda.
Indeed, the U.S.-Mexico border was a constant topic at this year’s CPAC, which included controversial anti-immigrant speakers such as the head of Spain’s far-right Vox party and a representative of Hungary, whose leader stated at the 2022 CPAC that Europeans should not become “mixed-race.” Hungary will also host a CPAC meeting in April 2024.
Many of the sessions have alarming titles like, “Burning Down the House,” “Does Government Even Matter” and “Going Full Hungarian.” There are right-wing, populist speakers like Bannon and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Overall, the program is informed by a conservative logic that largely boils down to God, family, tradition, law and order, defense and freedom.
Of these, God looms largest. As a result, CPAC’s hardcore conservative Christian orientation is anti-abortion rights, homophobic and oriented toward traditional family structure and what it considers morality.
Schlapp co-wrote a book in 2022 that warns of the dangers of “evil forces” – what he considers to be progressives, the radical left and American Marxists. Schlapp’s book title even dubs these forces “the desecrators.” Such inflammatory language is frequently used at CPAC, including by Trump during his Saturday speech.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, left, and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, speak during CPAC on Feb. 22, 2024. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
3. Trump believers think he is their savior
CPAC’s love of Trump is shocking to many on the left. But at CPAC, Trump is viewed as America’s savior.
According to his base, Trump delivered on abortion by appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. They believe that, despite evidence of mixed results, Trump had wide successes at securing the border and creating jobs. For example, during Trump’s time as president, the U.S. economy lost nearly 3 million jobs, and apprehensions of undocumented migrants at the border rose.
Trump’s CPAC speech, like his campaign speeches, harped on such supposed achievements – as well as Biden’s alleged “destruction” of the country.
Conservatives roll their eyes at liberal fears of Trump the despot. Like all of us, they acknowledge, Trump has flaws. They say that some of his comments about women and minorities are cringeworthy, but not evidence of an underlying misogyny and hatefulness, as many critics contend.
Ultimately, CPAC conservatives believe Trump is their best bet to defeat the radical-left “desecrators” who seek to thwart him at every turn – including, as they constantly complained at CPAC, social media bans, “fake news” takedowns, rigged voting, bogus lawsuits, unfair justice, and lies about what they call the Jan. 6, 2021, “protest”.
Despite these hurdles, Trump battles on toward the Republican nomination for presidential candidate – the hero who CPAC conservatives view as the last and best hope to save the USA.
