Trump Disqualification Would Play Out To His Advantage, Says Ex-Obama Strategist: 'What You Thought Might Be Kryptonite ... Has Turned Out To Be Battery Packs'

As talks of debarring Donald Trump from the 2024 general elections get louder, a former President Barack Obama strategist on Friday warned of the negative sequences of a potential disqualification of the former president.

What Happened: "I have very, very strong reservations about all of this," said David Axelrod, while referring to the court decision to remove Trump’s name from the ballot. He expressed the opinion during his appearance on “Erin Burnett OutFront" interview on CNN.

"I do think it would rip the country apart if he were actually prevented from running because tens of millions of people want to vote for him,” he said.

It’s only right to beat Trump in the polls, according to the political consultant. ”I think if you're going to beat Donald Trump, you're going to probably have to do it at the polls.”

Most opinion polls put Trump in pole position both in the Republican primary race and in a hypothetical matchup with President Joe Biden.

Axelrod also suggested targeting Trump with disqualifications would work out to his advantage. "A lot of the motivation for [Trump's] candidacy was as a legal defense strategy … He wanted to set up a construct … which says that they're coming after him because he's running for president and they're trying to prevent him from being president,” he said.

"We've run this experiment, he's only gained since he started getting indicted," Axelrod said, adding "What you thought might be kryptonite for him has turned out to be battery packs, and this is a big one for him."

See Also: Trump’s Niece Says ‘No One Should Give Donald A Free Pass’ After Maine State Boots Him Out Of Ballot: ‘Time For Every State To Drop The Hammer’

Why It’s Important: The Colorado state Supreme Court was the first to rule in favor of removing Trump from the ballot for the state’s GOP presidential primary. The state’s Secretary Jena Griswold announced recently that the former president will be reinstated on the ballot, with the decision predicated on either the U.S. Supreme Court accepting to hear the case or overturning its state counterpart's verdict. 

In a separate development, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows excluded Trump from the ballot last week even as Michigan and California decided in favor of retaining his name on their ballot for the 2024 polls.

The disqualification rhetoric is based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that no person holding public office should have engaged in insurrection. Following his electoral defeat in 2020, Trump allegedly instigated his followers, who in turn stormed Capitol Hill and engaged in violence.

The former president is also facing a slew of civil and criminal lawsuits for election subversion and fraud, among other things.

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