Someone get California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D) an editor.
On Wednesday, Kounalakis sent a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) demanding she “explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.”
Kounalakis said the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled on Tuesday that Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, prompted her request.
“This decision is about honoring the rule of law in our country and protecting the fundamental pillars of our democracy,” Kounalakis argued. “California must stand on the right side of history. California is obligated to determine if Trump is ineligible for the California ballot for the same reasons as in [the Colorado case]. The Colorado decision can be the basis for a similar decision here in our state.”
That’s when Kounalakis made a simple, yet telling mistake.
She declared that the Constitution “is clear” regarding the qualifications for president: A candidate must “not be an insurrectionist,” and they “must be 40 years old.”
But, wait. That’s not right, is it? No, it’s not. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution lists the qualifications for president:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
To be fair, Kounalakis is not a lawyer, so perhaps it is not charitable to assume she holds intimate knowledge of the Constitution. On the other hand, the qualifications for president are taught in every high school civics class in the country.
Kounalakis later released an updated letter that included the correct age-qualification for presidential candidacy.
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