Colorado Supreme Court Disqualifies Trump from 2024 Ballot, Appeal to Supreme Court Likely

The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot on Tuesday in a 4-3 decision.

Summary

The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot on Tuesday in a 4-3 decision.

• The seven justices of Colorado’s highest court were all appointed by Democratic governors, and their decision is the first time the 14th Amendment has ever been used as the justification to declare a presidential candidate ineligible for the White House.
• Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution declares officials who have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding federal office.
• The four justices ruled that Trump is prohibited from appearing on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot because of his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Should this ruling be allowed to stand, other blue states could follow Colorado’s lead and boot Trump from the ballot.
• The case is almost certain to appear in front of the Supreme Court, who will have the final say on Trump’s eligibility. The primary election is set for March 5, 2024, so the timing of the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to take up the case and their eventual ruling will be crucial in determining whether Trump can appear on the ballot.
• The former president said the decision was “a sad day in America!!!” and called it “a shame for our country” in posts on Truth Social. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said their campaign has ““full confidence that the US supreme court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these un-American lawsuits”.
• Trump’s Republican primary rivals defended their chief competitor, with Ron DeSantis arguing the ruling constitutes “abusing judicial power” and Nikki Haley saying that voters should make the decision whether Trump should return to office, not judges.
• Chris Christie joined their criticism, telling a New Hampshire voter “I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being president of the United States by any court.” Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to withdraw from the Colorado primary ballot in the event his low-polling campaign can last until that point.
• The Colorado Republican Party announced after the ruling that they would move their presidential nominating contest from a primary to a caucus if the ruling is allowed to stand to ensure Trump can still compete for delegates in the state.

• CNN’s John Avlon argued the decision was “absolutely right” and an indication “that the US Constitution still matters.” Avlon continued, “While Trump didn’t storm the Capitol, I think it’s clear that he incited a riot whose goal was to stop the certification of the election through violence and intimidation (he denies any wrongdoing). The full text of the 14th Amendment states that it applies to anyone who has given “aid or comfort” to an insurrection or rebellion. That’s the least Trump did with his tweets, speeches and encouragement of the overall plot to overturn the election on the back of his lies.”
• New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait called the decision “a step too far” and “dangerous and likely to backfire.” Chait continued, “To deny the voters the chance to elect the candidate of their choice is a Rubicon-crossing event for the judiciary. It would be seen forever by tens of millions of Americans as a negation of democracy. It is not enough that their belief is plausibly wrong or likely wrong. It must be incontrovertibly wrong to support such a momentous step.”
• “The very existence of the effort raises difficult questions about how a democracy should deal with the threat of a candidate like Trump, who retains a good deal of popular support, but who attempted to steal the 2020 election and talks constantly about having his political opponents imprisoned,” wrote Andrew Prokop for Vox. “A Trump win in 2024 would be deeply dangerous for American democracy. Yet taking away voters’ option to choose him would pose its own perils.”

• “I hope everybody’s irony meters are just going off-the-charts tonight because this is one of the most antidemocratic decisions we have seen in American history – that four unelected judges on a state Supreme Court have taken it upon themselves to disqualify someone who otherwise meets all the qualifications of the Constitution,” former Supreme Court clerk Chris Landau told Fox News. “It is terrifying to me as an American that this kind of lawfare is being waged, that courts are so presumptuous that they think it’s up to them to decide who can be on the ballot to let democracy work.”
• Breitbart observed “The Court’s unilateral determination that Trump engaged in insurrection comes despite Trump having never been convicted of that – or any other – crime, or even been charged in court with the crime of insurrection. He was acquitted by the U.S. Senate of charges of engaging in insurrection and continues to deny wrongdoing. In support of its legal assertion, the Court cites the U.S. House January 6 Select Committee, notwithstanding that Trump was acquitted of the House’s charges in the Senate.”
• National Review’s Dan McLaughlin blasted the “Colorado Grinches” who conspired to “ruin the Supreme Court’s Christmas.” McLaughlin concluded, “ The Supreme Court is not going to be able to duck the issue or delay it. As I have discussed before, there are two problems with getting the question to the Court: Somebody needs to have standing, and the Court won’t leap to the issue if it thinks it can be put off until later. The Colorado supreme court just bulldozed both of those objections…Merry Christmas John Roberts. Hope you and your colleagues didn’t have plans.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023