Colorado Supreme Court Removes Trump From State Ballot
In an unprecedented move, the Colorado Supreme Court has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot. The court filing found Trump was ineligible to run for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. However, the ruling is stayed until Jan. 4, pending an appellate ruling.
“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision. We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said: “Four partisan Democrat operatives on the Colorado Supreme Court think they get to decide for all Coloradans and Americans the next presidential election. This is unAmerican and Democrats are so afraid that President Trump will win on Nov. 5th 2024 that they are illegally attempting to take him off the ballot. Like the rest of the unprecedented, constant, and illegal election interference against President Trump, this will backfire and further strengthen President Trump’s winning campaign to Save America.”
A Denver court found last month that Trump engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, by inciting a mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol. This is despite the fact that Trump never instructed his supporters to storm the Capitol, and on the same day, told them to stop, when they did. Opponents cite how long it took for Trump to tell his supporters to stop, but taking a couple hours to post does not equate to “inciting an insurrection.” Not to mention, Trump was blocked from posting on Twitter while this was happening.
Says George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley: “The opinion is remarkable in how the four justices adopted the most sweeping interpretations to get over each barrier. The result is lack of a limiting principle…I view the opinion as strikingly anti-democratic in what it now allows states to do in blue and red states alike.”
Meanwhile, University of Texas Law School professor Steve Vladeck’s analysis of the opinion found that the fine details of the ruling mean that “(1) Trump almost certainly *will* be on the primary ballot in Colorado; & (2) SCOTUS can focus instead on the general.”
Trump is facing 91 charges across a total of four criminal indictments. But despite this, the former President is the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP primary, and as of today, is favored to beat President Joe Biden in next November’s General Election. We will see how things play out, on both the legal and political fronts.