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Colorado’s supreme court declared on Tuesday that Donald Trump is ineligible to be president of the United States due to his involvement in the January 2021 assault on the Capitol, causing a political tremor that might upset the results of next year’s election.
Republicans of all stripes swiftly condemned the startling court ruling, which Trump’s team indicated it would appeal. It appeared that this would fuel the former reality TV star’s allegation of political persecution.
The decision, which is limited to the Colorado primary ballot, is the first of several nationwide court proceedings that successfully invoke the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which prohibits anybody who has pledged to defend the nation from office from engaging in insurrection afterward.
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the Colorado high court wrote.
“Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the 4-3 majority wrote.
“We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. 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.”
A lower court’s earlier decision concluded that although Trump had undoubtedly encouraged the riot on January 6, the president’s post was not among the federal elected positions covered by the 14th Amendment.
On social media, Noah Bookbinder of the advocacy organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the first lawsuit, praised Tuesday’s decision, referring to it as “a huge moment for democracy.”
“It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country.
“Our Constitution clearly states that those who violate their oath by attacking our democracy are barred from serving in government.”
Supreme Court
The court placed its ruling on hold until January 4, anticipating an appeal to the US Supreme Court, which Trump’s campaign immediately said it would seek.
“We will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Cheung said the “all-Democrat appointed” panel in Colorado was doing the bidding of a “(George) Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.”
“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls.
“They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November.”
The judgment brought swift rebukes from senior Republicans, including Trump’s one-time rival for the 2016 nomination, Senator Marco Rubio.
“The US has put sanctions on other countries for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court has done today,” he wrote on social media.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination but has closely aligned himself with many of the former president’s political positions — said the US Supreme Court “should reverse” the Colorado ruling.
“The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal ground,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Vibrant grassroots support for Trump endures despite the growing frustration of large segments of the establishment Republican Party with him and his brand of resentful isolationism.
Even top party leaders risk grave penalties if they fail to support the projected front-runner against what he describes as a “witch hunt.”
A heated legal discussion regarding Trump’s fitness for future office has been sparked by his historic indictments, one from the federal level and one from Georgia, for allegedly spearheading a criminal plot to steal the 2020 election.
The Colorado lawsuit is only one of several countrywide 14th Amendment cases filed against Trump. Last month, the highest court in Minnesota made a similar decision.
