In a feigned attempt to “save democracy,” some democrats have done one thing: destroy it. The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado, as well as the Secretary of State of Maine have both ruled, in their respective states, that former President and 2024 Presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump, is ineligible to be on the ballot of their states’ presidential primaries. Anti-Trump politicians as well as democrats across the country have weighed in in favor of the decision to disqualify him from the ballot. A staggering new poll from CBS found that 81 percent of democratic voters believe that states should disqualify Trump from presidential ballots. The echoed defense for this disastrous decision is the “preservation of democracy.” Ah yes, the age-old pro-democratic tactic of removing leading candidates from a democratic election…..wait….what?

The irony is so obvious it’s almost shocking, and it’s also surprising that the democratic party genuinely believes they are acting pro-democracy while simultaneously supporting the removal of a presidential candidate from the ballot. Their argument for why Trump should not be allowed on the ballot centers around a 14th Amendment provision to the Constitution that states that anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” is ineligible to hold office in the United States, a provision that was specifically created to address Confederates who took up arms against the US government during the Civil War. Supporters of removing Trump from the ballot, including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows who banned Trump from the ballot in Maine, say that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, meet the criteria for “insurrection or rebellion” that the 14th Amendment outlines. However, this argument fails on many fronts. First of all, authoritarian-esque democrats such as Shenna Bellows believe that their opinion supersedes the basic notion of due process, proven by the fact that she banned Trump from the ballot before any legal proceeding or criminal charge of insurrection existed or his eligibility was decided in Maine. This is a problem. One (specifically a democrat) cannot proclaim support for the democratic process, while actively preventing it from functioning accordingly. The truth is, the matter of whether Trump engaged in insurrection on January 6 is in dispute among many citizens , and will never be agreed upon. Moreover, no charges of insurrection have ever been brought in all of his legal cases.  No matter what a politician says, opposing politicians will say the opposite. A matter of such intense divisiveness should be left up to the American electorate, with them having the ability to decide who the President should be. The real reason Democrats are doing everything they can to stop Trump from being on the ballot is they fear a weak   candidate, and therefore, their chances, in the 2024 election. President Biden holds a record low approval rating, his mental aptitude is being questioned, and he has failed on a plethora of issues paramount to the American people, such as inflation,  illegal immigration, and foreign policy. Trump is also beating Biden in all available reputable polls, which is further stoking the fear of the Democratic Party.

But, If you can’t beat Trump, ban him, right? This line of thinking, being casually thrown out by Democrats with clear authoritarian sympathies, is the only real threat to our Democratic system. When you try to prevent the American people from deciding the election by removing a candidate, you are acting in a way that is anti-democratic by definition. We should all pray that these Democrats do not get their way, and do not let them poison the most crucial component to American democracy: Our Elections.