Due to his participation in his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, former President Donald Trump was disqualified by the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday from running for office in the state’s presidential election the following year.
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According to a seldom-used clause of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits officials who have participated in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office, Trump is now the first presidential candidate in American history to be declared ineligible for the presidency.
The court found that because of his role in inciting violence against the U.S. government, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024 is ineligible to run for office under the U.S. Constitution.
The ruling only pertains to the state’s Republican primary on March 5; however, its outcome is expected to have an impact on Trump’s candidature for the general election on November 5. Colorado is seen by unbiased U.S. election observers as safely Democratic, indicating that President Joe Biden will probably win the state regardless of what happens to Trump.
With assistance from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group of Colorado voters filed the lawsuit, arguing that Trump ought to be removed from office for encouraging his followers to attack the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to block Biden’s succession as president following the 2020 election.
In addition to labelling the court ruling “flawed” and “undemocratic,” Trump’s campaign announced that it would be appealed.
The Trump campaign has denounced 14th Amendment challenges as an attempt to keep millions of voters from selecting the candidate they want to lead them as president.
Advocate groups and anti-Trump voters have successfully challenged Trump’s candidature in court using section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was passed following the Civil War, and this decision is a victory for them.
The ruling overturns a lower court judge’s finding that Trump incited violence among his supporters, thereby engaging in insurrection. However, as president, Trump was not considered a “officer of the United States” and was therefore not subject to disqualification under the amendment.
Trump’s attorney claimed that the Capitol riot was not violent enough to be considered an insurrection and that Trump’s speech to his supporters that day in Washington was protected by his right to free speech. The attorney argued that the courts lacked the power to order Trump to be taken off the ballot.
In addition to possibly taking the case all the way to the US Supreme Court, supporters had hoped to use it to further a larger disqualification campaign.
With three Trump appointees, the U.S. Supreme Court has a conservative majority of 6-3.
The Colorado court ordered a stay of the decision until January 4, 2024, to give time for appeals.
“Today’s court ruling upholds the claims made by our clients in this lawsuit: that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist who violates Section 3 of the 14th Amendment by virtue of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, and that Secretary Griswold ought to prevent him from appearing on Colorado’s primary ballot. To safeguard the future of democracy in our nation, it is not only historic and justified, but also imperative, according to CREW President Noah Bookbinder.
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