The amendment says nothing about criminal conviction
They would just move the goalposts after any conviction anyway.
Indeed. It was specifically written to be self-executing because it would have been impossible to charge, try and convict all of the tens of thousands of former Confederate officers it was meant to bar from federal office. Because it's self-executing, a simple finding of fact is sufficient for it to apply. The question then isn't whether it requires a conviction, but rather whether it applies to Trump.
To me it pretty obviously does apply to him, but I'm definitely biased as fuck.
The amendment says nothing about criminal conviction
They would just move the goalposts after any conviction anyway.
Indeed. It was specifically written to be self-executing because it would have been impossible to charge, try and convict all of the tens of thousands of former Confederate officers it was meant to bar from federal office. Because it's self-executing, a simple finding of fact is sufficient for it to apply. The question then isn't whether it requires a conviction, but rather whether it applies to Trump.
To me it pretty obviously does apply to him, but I'm definitely biased as fuck.