Seven liberal judges ordered the banning of former President Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot in the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday.
According to the Colorado Supreme Court, the GOP leader is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution because he violated the insurrection clause.
Section 3 of the 14th amendment, also referred to as the insurrection clause, bars anyone from Congress, the military, and federal and state offices who once took an oath to uphold the constitution but then “engaged” in “insurrection or rebellion” against it.
However, the justices were divided. In a 4 to 3 ruling, the court said, “President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection.”
One justice asserted that a candidate should not be disqualified if they haven’t been convicted of insurrection, which is a federal crime. Trump had been facing other felony charges but not insurrection.
Another questioned the due process and said that Congress only has the power to enforce the ban.
Justice Carlos Summer, one of the seven democrat justices, said “I have been involved in the justice system for thirty-three years now, and what took place here doesn’t resemble anything I’ve seen in a courtroom.”
The majority told in their order, that “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. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection.”
The court accused Trump in their ruling of the following:
- The Jan. 6, 2021, riot was an an insurrection
- Trump “engaged in” an insurrection
- Trump’s speech “inciting the crowd” before the riot was “not protected by the First Amendment”
- Colorado law allows voters to challenge Trump’s eligibility under the insurrectionist clause
- The clause can be enforced without action from Congress
- The clause applies to the presidency
Despite their order, the Colorado SC decided to pause their decision until Trump’s legal team had appealed this to the US Supreme Court, to which his team responded that they would “swiftly” do so.
The pause is good news for the Republican primary leading candidate because this means his spot in the March elections might be safe if the United States Supreme Court doesn’t decide on the matter quickly.
The Colorado ruling differs from the several legal decisions regarding Trump’s presidential candidacy.
A Minnesota Supreme Court decided last month that the state can put anyone on its primary ballot. But the court enjoins petitioners to try again in the context of the national elections.
The Court of Appeals in Michigan ruled just last week that it will allow Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.
“Who to place on the primary ballot is determined by the political parties and the individual candidates,” the appeals court said in a 3-0 opinion, citing Michigan law.
Trump and his legal team were outraged by the decision. Alina Habba, Trump’s legal spokeswoman, said: “This ruling, issued by the Colorado Supreme Court, attacks the very heart of this nation’s democracy. It will not stand, and we trust that the Supreme Court will reverse this unconstitutional order.”
On his Truth, Social Trump lambasted the decision and said:
“A SAD DAY IN AMERICA!!!”
“BIDEN SHOULD DROP ALL OF THESE FAKE POLITICAL INDICTMENTS AGAINST ME, BOTH CRIMINAL & CIVIL.”
“EVERY CASE I AM FIGHTING IS THE WORK OF THE DOJ & WHITE HOUSE. NO SUCH THING HAS EVER HAPPENED IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE. BANANA REPUBLIC??? ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!”
Fellow Republican primary candidates also opposed the decision. Vivek Ramaswamy even called on fellow candidates to remove themselves from the Republican primary in Colorado in solidarity with Trump or “else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences from our country”.
ARREST AND EXECUTE THE COMMIES ON THE COLOADO BENCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!