Besides the FBI’s gross politicking when it comes to defending Democrats and members of the Biden family, the other nakedly political twist of the 2024 cycle is the removal of Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballot. I do not doubt that the decision from The Centennial State’s Supreme Court will be slapped down, but it’s yet another legal fight the Trump team must wage, draining precious time and resources.
To recap, mostly Republican anti-Trump lawyers have peddled this unconstitutional scheme of outright saying Trump cannot run again because he engaged in armed rebellion/insurrection against the United States. In Michigan, at least they chose reason and rejected a move to purge Trump from their ballot next year (via NBC News):
The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an effort to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot in 2024.
The court’s order blocks efforts to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states no one who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after having sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution can hold office.
In a brief order issued Wednesday, the court said it declined to hear a case arguing that Trump should be left off of the state's ballot because it is “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.”
The order comes after the Michigan Court of Appeals this month similarly rejected challenges to Trump's spot on the state's primary ballot. In a 3-0 opinion that cited Michigan law, the appellate court said: “Who to place on the primary ballot is determined by the political parties and the individual candidates.”
Courts in Arizona and Minnesota have also ruled against similar efforts to get Trump kicked off the ballot. The Minnesota Supreme Court last month dismissed a petition by a group of voters to ban Trump from the 2024 GOP primary and general election ballots, saying Minnesota law did not bar major parties from putting even ineligible candidates on the primary ballot.
Trump hasn’t been charged with such lunacy; even Special Counsel Jack Smith, with an army of lawyers and unlimited resources, couldn’t cobble together enough evidence for an insurrection charge. It’s using old Civil War precedent as justification, where one is guilty without trial. That’s not how things work; you don’t need a law degree to know that. New Hampshire also mulled this route but opted not to, whereas California is riding the wave Colorado started and is looking into ways to bar Trump from their 2024 ballot.