In what officials are calling a “totally random and deeply unfortunate IT error,” the government’s official Constitution archive temporarily removed the 14th Amendment Wednesday, coincidentally, the part former President Donald Trump has repeatedly grumbled about.
The amendment, which addresses birthright citizenship and bars insurrectionists from office, vanished overnight from the National Archives website. For eight hours, confused high school civics students and gleeful right-wing influencers celebrated what one conservative blog dubbed “a digital Second Coming.”
Tech staff attributed the issue to a “rogue semicolon and unexplained Cheeto dust in the server room.” Meanwhile, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Finally! The Constitution is starting to get GREAT AGAIN!”
The page was restored by noon, but not before conspiracy theories blossomed and one Florida man tattooed a now-nonexistent clause on his forearm.
The National Archives now promises “more robust amendment retention protocols.”
