Disqualifying Trump Is Not Antidemocratic

In the short weeks since the Colorado Supreme Court threw Donald Trump off the ballot on the grounds that he is barred from office for engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” under the Fourteenth Amendment, the apologists for a man who tried to overthrow the constitutional order by fraud and then force have become pious apostles of democracy.

Republicans and conservative media figures have as “an attack on democracy” and “pro-tyranny.” The latter sentiment was also shared on the center-right, where more sober voices such as ’ Ross Douthat “Removing an opposition candidate from the ballot, indeed, a candidate currently leading in some polling averages … through the exercise of judicial power is a remarkably antidemocratic act.” A more straightforward summary from the legal reporter Charlie Savage “one fundamental value against another: giving voters in a democracy the right to pick their leaders versus ensuring that no one is above the law.” This argument is simple and intuitive: People should get to vote for whomever they want to vote