Trump Booted From Colorado’s 2024 Ballot in Stunning Ruling
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The Colorado Supreme Court ejected former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he had engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of the President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” read Tuesday’s opinion. “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 court ruled four to three, and the ruling will be placed on hold, pending appeal, until Jan. 4. The decision is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court; if appealed by Trump, the ruling could be stayed for longer as proceedings deliberate.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” wrote the court’s majority. “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.”
Trump’s campaign denounced the decision Tuesday and vowed to appeal the ruling.
“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement. “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.” (The Trump campaign’s claims of Soros providing funding in connection to this ruling is unsubstantiated.)
In a fundraising blast by Trump, the former president echoed Cheung’s statement, writing: “Make no mistake: WE WILL APPEAL THIS DECISION IMMEDIATELY.” Before ending the message, the ex-president pleaded with supporters to “make a contribution to help us FIGHT BACK against the Soros-funded attempts to remove my name from the ballot and rob you of your vote.”
In September, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters seeking to disqualify Trump from the primary ballot under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars certain candidates who have engaged in insurrection.
The plaintiffs argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, prohibits any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” and then has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
The case marked the first major lawsuit to block Trump from Colorado‘s 2024 presidential ballot, and a state judge issued a protective order prohibiting threats and intimidation in the case. Trump, the first former president to be charged with state or federal crimes, was indicted in August over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and an anti-democratic campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. He is facing a total of four separate indictments.
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