FSFP President John Bonifaz recently appeared on The BradCast to discuss our legal challenge to Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s candidacy for reelection under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause, based on evidence that he engaged in or gave aid or comfort to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

“This complaint is designed to defend democracy and to defend this critical constitutional provision, which is there in the Constitution to protect our republic. We do not want people who take an oath of office to defend the Constitution and then turn around and seek to overthrow the government through insurrection to be able to hold public office again. That’s the idea of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” said Bonifaz.

Last month a group of North Carolina voters filed a legal challenge to Rep. Cawthorn’s candidacy for re-election under the constitutional provision, making it the first such challenge to candidate eligibility filed since the Reconstruction Era. North Carolina state law dictates that the burden of proof now shifts to Rep. Madison Cawthorn to prove he is not an insurrectionist. However, the lawmaker recently filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections in an attempt to stop the process that normally unfolds after such a legal challenge.

“The argument is such that somehow he should not have to prove he’s not an insurrectionist…If he’s really nervous about appearing before the state Board of Elections on this then that may be a real indication that the State Board needs to act in the voters’ favor who brought this challenge,” said Bonifaz.

Listen to the full discussion here.

Learn more about our challenge to Rep. Cawthorn’s candidacy here.

Learn more about our 14point3 campaign here.