“You people are sick”—Pro-Trump Commentators Respond to Call for Trump’s Disqualification Under 14th Amendment

A recent opinion article in The Hill by two former Supreme Court law clerks has sparked intense backlash from pro-Trump commentators, after they called on Congress to disqualify President-elect Donald Trump under the Insurrection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment for his role in inciting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

While the authors acknowledged that the chances of this happening were slim, with no Democratic lawmakers yet showing interest in pursuing the idea, their suggestion ignited fury among Trump’s supporters.

The opinion piece proposed that Congress take action against Trump based on his involvement in the insurrection, but many pro-Trump figures reacted by accusing the authors of attempting their own form of insurrection.

Some even demanded that the authors be arrested for merely proposing the disqualification, sarcastically implying that Trump’s 2020 election challenges did not constitute an insurrection. Eric Trump, the former president’s son, wrote on X, “You people are sick,” expressing his outrage.

Laura Loomer, a far-right Trump ally and failed congressional candidate, criticized the article, writing, “Real headline from The Hill. Told you they would try this as a last-ditch effort.” Rogan “D.C. Draino” O’Handley, a right-wing commentator, also reacted strongly, stating, “Trump won the popular vote, every swing state, and the electoral college.

The Hill is now plotting an insurrection to stop him. Disbar the authors of this article and send the FBI into their offices. That’s how it works right?” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, echoed similar sentiments, writing, “Oh, look. Democrats want to steal the election and invalidate the will of the American people. Threat to Democracy.”

Former GOP House Foreign Affairs Committee investigator Jerry Dunleavy weighed in, accusing the authors of advocating for an unprecedented abuse of power. “The former editors-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review & of the Yale Law Journal want Congress to engage in what would be among the most egregious abuses of power in the history of the republic by overturning a democratic election & blocking a duly-elected president from office,” Dunleavy wrote.

Other critics, like Red State’s Bonchie, dismissed the article as baseless. “This insane article basically boils down to ‘yeah, all the legal attempts to stop Trump failed, but the January 6th committee said he’s bad so we should do a coup to stop him.’ Incredible,” he said.

Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, further criticized the article as an example of what he called “Trump derangement syndrome.” He added, “Trump derangement syndrome on full display in the DC media echo chamber.”