'I will beat him fair and square,' Nikki Haley says after Colorado court disqualifies Trump

AGENCY, Iowa — Republican candidate Nikki Haley said Tuesday night "the last thing we want" is judges deciding who can and can't be on the presidential ballot after Colorado's high court ruled former President Donald Trump is disqualified from the primary ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Tuesday that Trump is disqualified from appearing on the state's primary ballot in 2024 because of the 14th Amendment, which bars certain officials from holding office again if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States.

"I will tell you that I don’t think Donald Trump needs to be president. I think I need to be president. I think that’s good for the country," Haley told reporters after a campaign event at Corn Belt Seed Solutions. "But I will beat him fair and square. We don’t need to have judges making these decisions, we need voters to make these decisions."

Trump leads his rivals in the 2024 presidential race by a wide margin. A December Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll finds Trump leads among likely Republican caucusgoers with 51%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes second with 19% and Haley is third with 16%.

More: Donald Trump disqualified from Colorado's primary ballot, state high court rules

"I want to see this in the hands of the voters," Haley said. "We’re going to win this the right way, we’re going to do what we need to do but the last thing we want is judges telling us who can and can’t be on the ballot."

The Colorado Supreme Court ruling found that Trump's actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol constitutes engaging in an insurrection that disqualifies him from holding office again.

"We do not reach these conclusions lightly," the court wrote. "We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."

Asked about Jan. 6 by a voter in Osceola, Iowa, earlier on Tuesday, Haley said most Americans "don’t ever want to see that happen again." She said Trump has the right to defend himself against the criminal charges he faces.

"The courts will decide whether President Trump did something wrong or didn’t. He has the right to defend himself. I will tell you what disappointed me was when this was happening and he had the opportunity to speak up and stop it, he didn’t.

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Colorado's high court is the first to say that Trump may not appear on the ballot. Courts in other states, including Minnesota, Michigan and New Hampshire have either ruled in favor of Trump or declined to take up challenges to his eligibility.

Trump's campaign has said it will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement, Trump's campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung accused the court of "supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group's scheme to interfere in an election" by removing Trump's name from the ballot.

More: Nikki Haley knocks Donald Trump for 'praising dictators' at campaign stop in Iowa

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Nikki Haley says voters should decide on Trump, not the Colorado court