The Colorado Supreme Court is removing former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot, saying he is ineligible to be president.
In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”
“Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that Vice President (Mike) Pence refuse to perform his constitutional duty and by calling Senators to persuade them to stop the counting of electoral votes.
“President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary.”
Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are banned from future office if they “engaged in insurrection.” But the wording is vague, it doesn’t explicitly mention the presidency, and has only been applied twice since 1919.
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 spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Chief Justice Brian Boatright, one of the three dissenters on the seven-member court, wrote that he believes Colorado election law “was not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection,” and said he would have dismissed the challenge to Trump’s eligibility.
LINKS
AP: Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from the state’s ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause | @negativenull@startrek.website
Washington Post: Donald Trump is barred from Colorado’s 2024 primary ballot, the state Supreme Court rules | @silence7@slrpnk.net
CNBC: Colorado Supreme Court disqualifies Trump from 2024 ballot, pauses ruling to allow appeal | @return2ozma
NBC News: Colorado Supreme Court kicks Donald Trump off the state's 2024 ballot for violating the U.S. Constitution. | 18-24-61-B-17-17-4
CNN: Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot | A Phlaming Phoenix
CNN:Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot based on 14th Amendment’s ‘insurrectionist ban’ | @Boddhisatva
New York Times: Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules | @silence7@slrpnk.net
I'll take the W's where I can get them but Colorado has voted blue in the past 4 elections and I don't see that swinging back anytime soon, so ultimately not a game changer there.
Hoping it inspires some folks in other states to file cases though.
I’ll take it as a huge win, even if it doesn’t affect electoral college.
The win is that someone enforced the Constitution. I’m sure this will get appealed and it’s a natural for the Supreme Court to take up (even if too late for this election). One of the issues with this approach is that it was never clearly spelled out, there are no specific standards, there is no precedent . Even if the Supremes rule that violating the Constitution is ok, they’ll have to give a reason, establish a standard to be met. It’s slow and ugly progress but it’s progress toward holding future Putinistas accountable. Even a loss in this specific case could be a win for the future
Very true, the western slope can be as salty as it wants, Colorado carries blue by a huge margin. This is non-news. Where this would be big is a neighboring state like Utah or Kansas.
It's news in the sense that it's a historic event, the first of it's kind no less, and that it may be taken up by the Supreme Court.
In other words it's not non-news. It may not change the election (unless other states follow suit) but it's certainly important and worth attention.
Very fair point, if one state does it, then 15 other states as well, it would certainly do a lot to curb his overall turnout numbers and create a large amount of negative momentum for his campaign. I hadn't thought of it that way, I just hope it's enough to kill his ability to win electoral college votes from other states that keep him on.