WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he thought it was “fine” for former President Donald Trump to remain on the ballot for this year’s election.
In response to a reporter asking if Trump should “be allowed on the ballot,” Biden said, “As far as I’m concerned, that’s fine.”
The president made the remark shortly before boarding Marine One for Joint Base Andrews, where he departed for a trip to Florida.
Last month, Biden said that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection.”
“Whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision,” Biden told reporters on Dec. 20.
Biden’s comments on Tuesday come as the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments next week in the Colorado ballot case, which could impact whether Trump can stay on the primary ballot in that state and others.
Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states that “an officer of the United States” who has “engaged in insurrection” cannot hold office, and is therefore ineligible as a candidate.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that a president is not considered an “officer of the United States” and that the former president did not “engage in insurrection.”
“The Court should reverse on these grounds and end these unconstitutional disqualification efforts once and for all,” Trump’s lawyers said in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court this month.
Biden has frequently framed the November election as being about the preservation of democracy, often pointing to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“This is the first national election since January 6th insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy — since that moment. We all know who Donald Trump is,” Biden said in a speech about democracy marking three years since the Jan. 6 insurrection. “The question we have to answer is: Who are we? That’s what’s at stake.”
A reporter asked the president on Tuesday why Trump was leading in polls “if he is a threat to democracy, as you say?”
“Because guys like you,” Biden said, laughing, before saying he was teasing.
Diana Paulsen contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
