No one is above the law in this country, not even the president. So the 14th Amendment needs to be followed if the Constitution is to be respected by its own people.

This means that because of his attempt to overthrow a fair election, if former President Donald Trump is not removed from the 2024 primary and general election as the 14th Amendment suggests, the official Republican Party will have rejected constitutional democracy for the authoritarian rule of a man wishing to be King Donald I.

We’ve never been perfect, but if this happens, what the United States has stood for since 1776 — rule by law and not by person — will have been tossed into history’s dumpster fire by those who should know better.

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Whether convicted or not, if he is allowed to run for office by populist intimidation, Trump will cry “rigged,” even if he wins. And American democracy may die a parody of itself, scorned by what’s left of the existing democracies we once led.

Welcome to 2024. Respect the facts. Beware of algorithms and artificial intelligence. And vote.

Gerry DrummondDumont

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Donald Trump: No one is above the law