Not my president
It has become vogue these days to refer to Elon Musk as “president” Musk. The idea behind it, and it’s one I applaud and encourage, is that Donald Trump has ceded the office of the presidency to his unelected monkey. But that just doesn’t work for me. I’m old-fashioned about it, and by that I mean, I’m 2016 about it. None of those clowns are legitimately president, not Musk, not Trump. As the slogan from 2016 puts it, they are “Not my president.”
Because Trump is insecure and needy like a child, he had to address this question. Trump himself gave the reason why Musk can’t be president — ever. He told his latest Nuremberg-style rally that Musk can’t be president because he wasn’t born in the United States. In other words, it’s unconstitutional for Musk to be president. But then, that’s why Trump can’t be president either. It’s unconstitutional.
Of course, it’s in section 3 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. To remind those of you who have read it and forgot, or to alert those of you who haven’t read it, the Constitution says, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” And then it goes on to say, “But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Now, it is commonly misunderstood that the Supreme Court recently removed that disability from Trump. That’s completely wrong. That is NOT what SCOTUS said. What they did say is, the state of Colorado did not have the constitutional right to keep Trump off the ballot. They were right to say that, and they said it in a rare unanimous ruling. Any state can put anybody on the ballot they want. They can put a Scottish-born fourteen year old on the ballot. What the constitution actually says is, such a person cannot serve as president of the United States. Period.
Trump provoked and participated in an insurrection, and he gave aid and comfort to insurrectionists. For that reason, when he takes the oath of office on the 20th of next month he will be in violation of the Constitution of the United States. The person administering the oath, in this case Chief Justice John Roberts, will be in violation of the Constitution. The entire inauguration will be unlawful and illegitimate, Constitutionally speaking.
The part SCOTUS got wrong was contained in the majority opinion. They said it requires legislation by Congress to remove Trump from eligibility to be president. But that isn’t what the Constitution says, and it says it in language so plain a child could see it. Again, the Constitution says “Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such DISABILITY.” In other words, Trump’s right to be president has been constitutionally disabled. Congress can change that. Congress has done NO SUCH THING.
Will all this matter on the 20th of next month? Of course not. A corrupt court has paved the way for a man who has absolutely no right to be president. By the time of the 2026 midterm election, Trump will undoubtedly have given Congress yet another reason to impeach him, and the nation will have to endure that a third time. And we have a corrupt and criminal majority in the Supreme Court to thank for that.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.