Madison Cawthorn backed the Capitol attack. Will he be barred from office? | Jan-Werner Müller

We should very cautious about barring people from seeking office. But in the case of pro-insurrectionists, there is a very strong case

To this day, only footsoldiers have paid a price for the riot at the Capitol last January 6th. Politicians who spurred them on, praised them afterwards, and now incite further hatred with hallucinatory talk of political prisoners" have remained smugly immune.

This could change in one case: Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who was on the mall that fateful day, implored Trumpists to fight," and is now seeking re-election in North Carolina. His candidacy is being challenged on the basis of the 14th Amendment. Passed after the Civil War, it disqualifies from holding office anyone who has sworn allegiance to the Constitution and then engages in insurrection.

Jan-Werner Mueller teaches at Princeton and is a Guardian US columnist. His most recent book is Democracy Rules