The 14th Amendment crowd, which is seeking to prevent Donald Trump from running for president based on the ludicrous narrative that he fomented an armed rebellion/insurrection against the United States, has scored a victory in Colorado: its state’s Supreme Court has removed Trump from the 2024 ballot. The Trump team now faced another high-stakes court battle ahead of the next election (via The Hill):
The Colorado Supreme Court just removed Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 19, 2023
Even after a lower court judge in Denver who was a longtime Democrat donor ruled against.
Because "Democracy" is when a handful of partisan judges prevent people from being able to… pic.twitter.com/v8tn2CKHVX
Colorado’s highest court on Thursday knocked former President Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot under the 14th Amendment in a 4-3 ruling, making it the first state to block him from seeking the presidency because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
In a major legal blow to Trump, the court affirmed he engaged in insurrection by inflaming his supporters with false claims of election fraud and directing them to the Capitol – preventing him from a second White House term under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.”
The court put its ruling on hold until Jan. 4, so Trump can first seek review from the Supreme Court. If he does, Trump’s name automatically remains on the ballot until the justices resolve the appeal.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the court wrote in a 4-3 decision. “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.”
If allowed to take effect, Colorado’s secretary of state may not list Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.
New Hampshire also considered these 14th Amendment arguments to remove Trump from their ballot possibly. They backed down for a good cause: it’s a baseless legal argument. You don’t need to be a lawyer to know that Trump hasn’t been charged with igniting an insurrection. Second, you’re not guilty by default in this country, which has a little thing called due process of law. Sure, whatever happens after that is lawyer’s work, but even the most disengaged voter knows that you have your day in court before anyone is convicted of a crime, barring a plea deal.
We all know these efforts further consolidate GOP support around Trump. There is no doubt Democrats fear a new Trump presidency but also want him to be the 2024 Republican nominee, seeing him as an easier opponent for Joe Biden to beat. A lot has changed since the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid, with Biden’s numbers now circling the toilet for months. It can no longer be assumed that Biden could handily beat Trump anymore; even Obama is reportedly worried Biden could lose next year.
Democrats have been fretting about the president’s numbers for weeks. What a remarkable coincidence that anti-Trump forces are working to remove a former president from ballots when more pollsters and publications are noting how Biden’s figures are now squarely in the cesspool.
The Colorado Supreme Court has issued an unsigned opinion disqualifying Trump from the ballot: "The sum of these parts is this: President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three; because he is disqualified."...https://t.co/Ilwl4e8Wli
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 19, 2023
...It is striking that the court relies on Schenck v. U.S., where the Court upheld the denial of core free speech rights of a socialist opposing a war. The opinion of the Colorado Supreme Court is so sweeping that it would allow for tit-for-tat removals of candidates from ballots
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 19, 2023
ridiculous https://t.co/MeKQoREXZa
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 19, 2023