A convicted participant in the Jan.6 riot on the U.S. Capitol is hoping that Donald Trump will pick him as his 2024 running mate, hours after the Supreme Court declined to hear agruements in his bid to re-instate himself into elected office.
"Cowboys For Trump" founder Couy Griffin was removed from his position as the Otero County Commissioner in New Mexico in September of 2022, after a judge ruled that his participation in the Jan. 6 riots violated the 14th amendment's insurrection clause.
On Monday , the Supreme Court declined to hear arguements in his bid to reverse that decision. Hours later, Griffin expressed his desire to be Trump's running mate.
"It's a disappointment like I haven't felt in a long time," Griffin said in a statement posted to X. "As I sit right now, the only office I can run for is the executive office. Trump needs a Vice President who can stand strong through the hardest of times. And I can only pray I'd be considered."
"I'm officially barred through a court order of running for any other office other than the office of President. I wonder if that holds true to the office of Vice President?" he said, addressing Trump.
On its face, the case appears similar to the one brought by the high court that involved former President Donald J Trump.
Griffin, who founded Cowboys for Trump, was convicted on a charge stemming from his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and it was the first time an elected official was removed under the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban" because of the US Capitol riot.
The Supreme Court handed Trump a major legal victory in a unanimous decision handed down on March 4.
Six Colorado voters wanted the former president removed from their ballot due to remarks Donald Trump made prior to the riots.
However, the high court ruled that states could not remove a federal candidate from their ballots on their own, ruling that only Congress could do such a thing.
In Griffin's case, he was already found guilty of charges related to his involvement in the insurrection. He was convicted of trespassing on Capitol ground after a March 2022 bench trial but was acquitted of a second misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
A state judge ruled that January 6 was an insurrection and that Griffin violated the oath he took as a commissioner by engaging in that insurrection. Griffin was disqualified under Section 3 and was removed in September 2022.
New Mexico's top court dismissed Griffin's appeal on procedural grounds. Couy Griffin was part of the Capitol insurrection mob but did not enter the building itself.
