Biden’s Sacrosanct Duty to Enforce the Constitution:
Not Enforcing Its Crucial Provisions Means the Constitution Has No Authority.
All American presidents, as well as all senators and representatives, make an oath to defend the Constitution. Without making such oath, they cannot assume their office. The oath is not meant to be merely pro forma. It is meant to be sacrosanct, the Constitution being the bedrock of our nation. To violate that oath is tantamount to betrayal of the nation, even when there is no intention to betray, only a lack of determination, or a lack of courage when a defense might be politically fraught, even to the point of causing severe political unrest. Whatever the case, betraying important provisions of the Constitution is momentous, signaling the demise of the Constitution, possible political upheaval, even revolution. Since our Constitution’s function is not only to organize the nation but to put in place solid guardrails to protect essential principles such as democracy, not strictly enforcing provisions which are intended to protect democracy is a betrayal of our democracy.
The 14th Amendment’s Section 3 is one of the most important provisions of our Constitution and self-executing, as it is intended to prevent anti-democratic political candidates from assuming office, even if they win their election: in fact, it unambiguously disqualifies any candidate who having previously given an official oath to defend the Constitution, ends up being involved in an insurrection against it. The only remedy for an insurrectionist is a two-thirds vote by both the Senate and the House of Representatives to remove that disqualification. (The other two constitutional disqualifications for president are being younger than 35 years old and not being born in the United States.) Trump demonstrably incited and led the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection to defeat the democratic process and reverse Biden’s election victory, with the whole nation witnessing it in real time on television and online, the evidence conserved on video. Trump being president, he had of course given the oath to defend the Constitution at his January 2017 inauguration, and he outrageously violated his oath, betraying our Constitution and our nation’s most hallowed principle. Indisputably, his 2024 presidential candidacy was constitutionally invalid, due to his being disqualified as an insurrectionist.
As for President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, they are duty-bound to defend and enforce the Constitution, having given their oath at their January 2021 inauguration. They should have declared Trump’s 2024 candidacy invalid as soon as he was nominated by the Republican Party. But they did not, probably to avoid a political firestorm while believing Trump would not be reelected, thinking he would lose at least 10% of his 2016 voters due to January 6, his many scandals and instances of dishonesty, his many indictments, and his egregious affinity for dictators. Biden and Harris could have declared his disqualification shortly after his November 5, 2024 election victory. They should have, but they did not, for some undisclosed reason. Maybe it’s a good reason, maybe not. In any case, it is still not too late for them to do their duty (the same duty shared by all senators and representatives), before next Monday January 20, the scheduled date of Trump’s second inauguration. Before the deadline of January 20, Biden must fulfill his constitutional duty and declare Trump morally and legally unfit to be president. He must declare Trump’s election invalid due to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and that consequently Harris becomes the new president. That is the right thing to do, it is legally required of President Biden. Furthermore, the Supreme Court this past summer asserted that presidents have absolute immunity for any decision made with the intent to defend the Constitution or any of the nation’s best interests, so Biden would be fully protected for any measures taken to enforce Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, even drastic ones.
It would be best for Biden to prepare the nation for his decision to invalidate Trump’s November 5 election victory a few days in advance of Inauguration Day in a live televised address, carefully explaining the Constitution and his duty to enforce it, along with a recitation of Trump’s many misdeeds, adding moral justification to the 14th Amendment’s absolute requirement of invalidating the presidential candidacy and election of any oath-breaking insurrectionist. Biden must explain that the Constitution takes precedence over voters and election results, indeed that the Constitution inserted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to protect itself and our democracy from unwise, naïve, undereducated, corrupt, and anti-democratic voters and politicians. Biden should even go so far as to reprimand the Republican Party for having allowed an insurrectionist to be its presidential candidate.
To make the invalidation of Trump’s election more digestible for Republicans and Trump himself, Biden’s speech should propose compromises with the Republicans, such as having Harris commit to 1) a centrist legislative program and the inclusion of moderate, widely respected traditional Republicans in her cabinet; 2) a specific promise to immediately solve the illegal immigration and border crisis, by reforming the asylum law, requiring all asylum requests to be made at our consulates in the country of residence or in neighboring countries, and no longer at our border; 3) a specific promise to complete “the Wall” by the end of this year; 4) a prolongation of Trump’s tax cuts, along with a proposal to replace capital gains taxes with a maximum 10% federal transfer tax (payable by the buyers, not the sellers, just like sales taxes), and a proposal to eliminate the fraudulent estate tax, explaining its duplicitous unconstitutionality; 5) the strict enforcement of all human rights, while having a mandatory public high school course on the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which all UN member nations have undersigned) complemented by the world history of human rights violations; and while avoiding “woke” controversies, rejecting proposals to legislate biblical generational guilt, specifically stating that current generations cannot be held responsible for the misdeeds of past generations; 6) the proposal of a major upgrade of our public schools to ensure that all our youths get a truly excellent education, by having them run as the best private schools, with strict discipline, lots of homework/study hall, school uniforms, and an enlightened curriculum (which includes a four-year high school course on psychology complemented by group therapy and good parenting workshops, to greatly reduce drug addiction and all forms of violence) devised for the complex, highly competitive global economy, acknowledging that is the only way to have a prosperous economy, a serene society, and low tax rates, while eliminating poverty and illegal discriminations; 7) having all of Trump’s trials and indictments proceed until completed, reinstating those abandoned due to unjustified and biased judicial delays, while promising that Trump will not be imprisoned so long as he does not again violate the law, and promises to persuade his MAGA supporters and the Republican Party to accept the invalidation of his election and repudiate future insurrections. As for the Justice Department’s corrupt, fraudulent, unconstitutional policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, Biden should reveal that it was adopted under Nixon’s orders to protect him from being indicted for Watergate, and that he is ordering it to be rescinded permanently.
Biden should make clear to all Americans that if we end up with a dictator we will have a police state, there will be no way out for decades. Forget about congressional and judicial protections, they are crushed and rendered impotent in fascist police states. Political opposition is not tolerated. Dissenters are judicially persecuted, jailed, assassinated, executed, or simply made to disappear. That’s the existential risk we face with Trump. What are the chances that Trump will respect our democracy, since he disregards and violates our Constitution’s 14th Amendment Section 3? The Constitution says it’s a risk not to be taken. Biden must act before January 20 and do the right thing. To not unflinchingly defend our democracy would be unforgivable, cowardly and incredibly stupid.
© Edward Sonnino 2025
January 14, 2025
