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
So I wonder if Republican run states will use this as an excuse to throw Biden off the ballot.
I don’t think Biden will lose too much sleep about not being on the ballot in Mississippi and Utah.
On the other hand, if any of the other Republican presidential candidates ever had a chance, it would be starting now and they are probably looking very closely at this and considering making their own legal challenges to Trump being on the ballot in other states.
North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin
They would have to prove Biden did insurrection
and that it violates their state constitution (because apparently, violating the US Constitution isn’t enough).Edit: I misread. Trump was ruled to have violated the US Constitution.
I no longer presume that Republican politicians will act in either a legal or coherent manner. Their justification could be as simple as eye for an eye.
Because they did before ? I’m not from the US but i would not associate legal and coherent with the Gang Of Pedophile
Cue the Republicans quickly impeaching Biden for “trying to stage an insurrection.” The proof being… (Crickets). Then, the red courts declaring that this means Biden can’t be on the ballot.
They’ll point to the BLM protests, I bet. You know, the ones from before Biden was president.
They do blame Obama for how he acted as President after 9/11. Time is a difficult concept for them to understand. A bit too wibbly wobbly timey wimey perhaps?
He hasn’t engaged in insurrection. So, at the least, they can’t use the same argument.
Er uh yeah he did,… he uh— went on that picket line— he was insurrecting against the uh er…
/s
Protest / Insurrection same thing totally,…
It’s gonna be because Hunter Biden has been convicted of a felony (which may or may not be true) JB is disqualified.
Jack Black will be devastated
This made me check whether Jack Black is eligible to be President (i.e., not Canadian or something) and yes, he is.
Biden hasn’t committed a 14th Amendment violation… Not that that will stop them…
This just in: SCOTUS Rules Being Joe Biden is a violation of the 14th Amendment, Bars Him from Reelection
Theoretically, nothing in the US Constitution actually requires states to hold Presidential elections at all. They could have the State Legislature simply appoint whatever Electors they wanted. (That’s how the process was originally intended to work!)
Of course, there’s probably a bunch of state-level legislation and procedure that would hinder most states from doing that, but with a strong enough state legislature majority, almost any of it could be changed. (Anything short of something written into the constitution of a state that required a referendum to amend, anyway.)