The Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling removing former President Trump from the state’s primary election ballot, in a potentially groundbreaking decision. The decision will likely set up a major legal battle in the U.S. Supreme Court and could have a sharp impact on the state of the 2024 presidential race.
The Tuesday decision argued that the former president was not eligible to run under a clause in the 14th Amendment regarding “insurrection.”
The decision was split, with 4 justices in favor and 3 voted against.
The decision came after Colorado District Judge Sarah B. Wallace rejected an effort to remove Trump from the state’s ballot, despite agreeing with the sentiment that he had “engaged in insurrection.”
The Colorado Supreme Court ignored the facts of the January 6th riot. They ignored the law under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and 150 years of controlling precedent.
The actions of the Colorado Supreme Court, in unilaterally removing President Trump's name from ballots in the… pic.twitter.com/Hb2NnOSwLL
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) December 21, 2023
The court wrote that it traveled “in uncharted territory” but ruled that “the record amply established that the events of Jan. 6 constituted a concerted and public use of force or threat of force by a group of people to hinder or prevent the U.S. government from taking the actions necessary to accomplish the peaceful transfer of power in this country.”
The majority decision written by the judges wrote that they did “not reach these conclusions lightly.”
“We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the justices wrote. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said that the campaign would appeal the ruling Tuesday, writing that the decision was “supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
Cheung further wrote that leaders of the Democratic Party were “in a state of paranoia” over Trump’s poll numbers.
Trump condemned the White House Tuesday but did not directly discuss the Colorado ruling. The former president said that the Biden administration was “willing to violate the U.S. Constitution at levels never seen before in order to win this election. Joe Biden is a threat to democracy. They’re weaponizing law enforcement for high-level election interference because we’re beating them so badly in the polls.”
There are currently 13 challenges to Trump’s ability to be on the ballot nationwide. A Michigan court recently rejected a similar argument.
