Nobody actually misunderstands Section 3. Everybody knows what it means. Some disingenuous fuckwits have tried to pretend they don’t actually understand it.

They have argued that what Trump did does not rise to the level of “insurrection”. They argued that he did not actually take up arms, but merely “spoke” to people. They argued that he is entitled to “speak” under the First Amendment, and that his “speech” cannot therefore be considered insurrection.

And they have argued that even if his actions did rise to the level of insurrection, the oath he swore as president did not actually include the phrase “support the constitution”. The oaths of all other individuals mentioned explicitly do include that phrase, so the argument is that the framers never intended to include the presidency. Since he never swore an oath to “support” the constitution, either as president or earlier in his life, he is not bound by this limitation, and is free to commit insurrection whenever he wants.

And they have argued that even if it was insurrection, and his oath was interpreted in such a way as to apply, the office of “President” is either the United States itself, or above the United States, and not “under” the United States.

And they have argued that even if it was insurrection and his oath was interpreted properly and that the office of President is an office “under” the United States, he is still able to be re-elected because Section 3 is inoperative. This argument relies on Section 5:

Section 5.

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

The theory is that Congress has not enacted any law under Section 3 to actually bring it into operation, so the whole section remains dormant and unenforceable.