Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Mark Halperin Warns ‘We’re Gonna See More’ Advocacy To Stop Trump From Taking Office As Inauguration ‘Gets Closer’

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Political analyst Mark Halperin warned Friday that as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches, efforts to block him from assuming office will intensify.

In a Thursday column for The Hill, liberal attorneys Evan Davis and David Schulte argued that Congress can still prevent Trump from taking office on Jan. 20 by rejecting electoral votes on Jan. 6, claiming Trump is disqualified under the 14th Amendment. Halperin, on “American Agenda,” suggested that as the shock of Trump’s November victory subsides, more individuals on the left will follow the attorneys’ lead in opposing Trump’s second term.

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“It seems ill-timed, not just not in the spirit of the holiday season, but also given where we are in the transition cycle … we’re gonna see more of this. I think the left has been a little bit shocked by the election results,” Halperin said. “And I think as the reality of January 20th gets closer, I think you’ll see more opinionizing just like this.”

Host Jessie Jane Duff later asked Halperin what he thought the motivation for publishing The Hill column was.

“I try not to speculate on people’s motives if I don’t have reporting, so I don’t really know. But again, The Hill likes to get attention, so that could be part of it,” he responded. “But it also reflects a point of view that’s held by tens of millions of Americans … I think that you’re gonna see more manifestations like this as we get closer to inauguration day.”

The Supreme Court in February rejected Colorado’s attempt to eliminate Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot due to Congress, not states being “responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates.”

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that no individual should hold elected office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

“The unlikelihood of congressional Republicans doing anything that might elect Harris as president is obvious,” Davis and Schulte wrote in their Thursday column. “But Democrats need to take a stand against Electoral College votes for a person disqualified by the Constitution from holding office unless and until this disability is removed. No less is required by their oath to support and defend the Constitution.”

However, several leading Democrats told Politico on Thursday that they do not plan to object to Trump’s victory.