California and Colorado have formally backed down from their unconstitutional efforts to remove former President Donald Trump from their 2024 ballots. It was a shoddy and illiberal effort from the Left to block Trump, who is the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee. Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that Trump could be removed based on 14th Amendment grounds. It set off a firestorm, but eventually, the decision was that Trump would stay. Still, California used Colorado’s decision to explore ways to purge Trump from the ballot. Like Colorado, the Golden State also opted to steer clear of this silly fight (via CBS News):
California's secretary of state declined to remove Donald Trump from the presidential primary ballot following demands from her lieutenant governor.
Last week, Dr. Shirley Weber issued a tepid response to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis' open letter. She did not indicate if she would fulfill Kounalakis's request and said her decision would be guided by her office's "commitment to and respect for the rule of law."
"Removing a candidate from the ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is not something my office takes lightly and is not as simple as the requirement that a person be at least 35 years old to be president," Dr. Shirley Weber wrote.
Some top democrats in California joined Kounalakis' demands to remove Trump from the ballot, however, Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly opposed the move, saying he should be defeated at the polls.
This fight isn’t over. As Colorado and California put this ballot question behind them, Maine decided to pull a ‘Leeroy Jenkins’ and remove Trump from their ballot next year, keeping this corrosive and unconstitutional game alive. Even after the 14th Amendment shenanigans have run their course, Democrats are scheming to find other ways to hamstring the Trump campaign, all while degrading the integrity of our institutions.