Summary
Democrats blame Attorney General Merrick Garland for delaying prosecution of Donald Trump over the January 6 Capitol attack, allowing him to win reelection before facing trial.
Critics argue Garland wasted critical time before appointing a special prosecutor in late 2022, enabling Trump to evade accountability due to DOJ policy barring prosecution of sitting presidents.
While Trump faces ongoing civil lawsuits, his return to power threatens pardons for convicted rioters and continued revisionism about the attack.
Despite public disapproval of Trump’s actions, he successfully leveraged misinformation to regain the presidency.
Neither of those facts preclude the application of the 14th. The barrier is whether or not someone holding public office, having taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, breaks that oath via insurrection against the same. It does not matter that Trump was not punished. The acquittal does not erase the reality of the past: it is a dismissal of immediate consequences. Nothing more.
The fact that Congress acknowledged the reality of January 6th is more than enough for the 14th to apply.