Donald Trump may be running for president, but there’s a little problem with his past credentials. As you may recall, three years ago the former president lost re-election. He didn’t take it well. Indeed, he helped inspire his violent supporters to storm the Capitol building to overturn the election. Perhaps he forgot about that. Alas, one state’s officials did not.
Per CNN, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Trump can’t be on the presidential ballot because he violated the 14th amendment’s “insurrection ban.” Over the summer a number of scholars, some of them conservative, had argued that Trump qualifies for that ban thanks to his actions leading up to and including the Jan. 6 riot.
BREAKING: Colorado Supreme Court removes Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot, ruling that the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from holding office because he engaged in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Read the full ruling: https://t.co/khFLVecamH pic.twitter.com/keEdJdcLlJ
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) December 19, 2023
This doesn’t mean Trump is officially stricken from Colorado’s ballot. The ruling has been placed on hold until January 4. The matter will likely be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court, which currently leans rightward, with three judges appointed by the big guy himself.
Trump nor his cronies, including arguably Colorado’s most famous resident, have yet to comment on the matter. Surely Ron DeSantis is thrilled.
The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868, soon after the Civil War. Section 3 bars “any person who has taken an oath to support and defend our Constitution and thereafter rebels against that sacred charter, either through overt insurrection or by giving aid or comfort to the Constitution’s enemies.”
Some have argued Trump fits this to a T. Others have claimed the language is too vague to disqualify a guy who coaxed his supporters to D.C. on Jan. 6 and told them to “fight like hell” before they stormed the Capitol building.
(Via CNN)