CV NEWS FEED // In a shocking 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court narrowly ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from appearing on the state’s 2024 Republican Primary ballot.
“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 court ruled Tuesday.
“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,” the ruling stated. “The court stays its ruling until January 4, 2024, subject to any further appellate proceedings.”
“Our independent review of the record in this case brings us to the same conclusion: President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” the court’s four-justice majority continued:
The tenor of President Trump’s messages to his supporters in exhorting them to travel to Washington, D.C. on January 6 was obvious and unmistakable: the allegedly rigged election was an act of war and those victimized by it had an obligation to fight back and to fight aggressively.
And President Trump’s supporters did not miss or misunderstand the message: the cavalry was coming to fight.
Numerous experts weighed in against the ruling Tuesday.
“Whatever you think of the merits, it seems impossible to believe that this is the last word—and that the U.S. Supreme Court won’t now *have to* take up and resolve the question of Trump’s eligibility under Section 3,” University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Today’s ruling forces the issue.”
“The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling is the first time a state court has agreed that Trump should be barred from 2024 ballots,” Greta Van Susteren said. “Many other states have ruled otherwise.”
Former Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate Bryant “Corky” Messner had launched a long-shot effort to remove the 45th president from the New Hampshire ballot earlier this year.
The state’s moderate Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, a Trump critic, dismissed the attempt. Sununu’s spokesman said “the Governor doesn’t expect ballot access will be a problem for the former president.”
“The first-of-its kind decision” in Colorado “sided with a group of Colorado voters who argued in a lawsuit that the Republican front-runner was disqualified under a clause in the 14th Amendment,” The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday.
“Enacted after the Civil War, the provision disqualifies from public office those who swore to defend the Constitution and then ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ against the U.S,” the WSJ continued.
According to former Trump administration Treasury Department official Monica Crowley, her former boss is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
