Robert Reich urges secretaries of state to refuse to put Trump’s name on 2024 ballots

Robert Reich, labor secretary under former President Clinton, urged secretaries of state to refuse to put former President Trump’s name on 2024 ballots, saying Trump “committed treason.”

In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Reich argued Trump violated the Constitution by participating in an insurrection against the country, referencing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He wrote that Trump’s reported attempts to pressure state officials to “change their tallies,” to persuade former Vice President Pence to not certify the election results and his calls for his supporters to march on the Capitol were all examples of “treason.”

“This, my friends, is treason,” he said.

“But Trump is running for reelection, despite the explicit language of section three of the 14th amendment to the constitution, which prohibits anyone who has held public office and who has engaged in insurrection against the United States from ever again serving in public office,” Reich continued.

Reich argued that the former president tried to change the results of the election in 2020, and questioned what would stop Trump form attempting the same moves in 2024. He said that the chances of him trying to overturn the election are “greater now” than before because Trump has more supporters in local and state governments.

He said that while the recently passed Electoral Count Reform Act, which is an update to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, covers some legal concerns, Trump may still find a way to influence the results of the election. He said that it is up to the secretaries of state to determine whether Trump should be on the ballot.

“Secretaries of state — who in most cases are in charge of deciding who gets on the ballot – must refuse to place Donald Trump’s name on the 2024 ballot, based on the clear meaning of section three of the 14th amendment to the US constitution,” he concluded.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to The Hill that it is “sad” some individuals want to keep people from voting for the former president. 

“What these un-democratic organizations and individuals are doing is blatant election interference and tampering,” Cheung said. “They are not even trying to hide it anymore and it is sad they want to deprive the American people of choosing Donald Trump — the overwhelming front runner by far — as their President. History will not judge them kindly and they will have to answer for their desecration of the Constitution.”

Updated 10:14 a.m. April 25