Former US President, Donald Trump
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot run for office in the state’s upcoming presidential election due to his involvement in his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
As a result of the decision, Trump becomes the first presidential candidate in American history to be disqualified from running for office under a seldom-used clause of the Constitution that prevents public servants who have participated in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
Trump found guilty in this case
The court found that due of his role in inciting violence against the U.S. government, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024 is ineligible to run for office under the U.S. Constitution.
The verdict only pertains to the state’s Republican primary on March 5; but, its outcome is expected to have an impact on Trump’s candidacy for the general election on November 5. Colorado is seen by unbiased U.S. election observers as safely Democratic, indicating that President Joe Biden will probably win the state regardless of what happens to Trump.
Trump’s campaign calls the ruling “flawed” and “undemocratic”
With assistance from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group of Colorado voters filed the lawsuit, arguing that Trump ought to be removed from office for encouraging his followers to attack the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to block Biden’s succession as president following the 2020 election. In addition to labeling the court ruling “flawed” and “undemocratic,” Trump’s campaign said that it would be appealed.
“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,” a spokesperson from the Trump campaign said.
The Trump team has denounced 14th Amendment lawsuits as an attempt to keep millions of people from selecting the candidate they want to lead them as president.
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Trump out of race of US President
Advocate groups and anti-Trump voters have successfully challenged Trump’s candidacy in court using section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was passed following the Civil War, and this ruling is a triumph for them.
Although the decision overturns a lower court judge’s finding that Trump incited violence among his supporters in order to commit insurrection, Trump was not an “officer of the United States” and so was not subject to disqualification under the amendment while serving as president.
Trump’s attorney said that the Capitol riot was not violent enough to be considered an insurrection and that Trump’s statement to his supporters that day in Washington was protected by his right to free speech. The attorney argued that the courts lacked the power to order Trump to be taken off the ballot.
In addition to possibly taking the case all the way to the US Supreme Court, supporters had wanted to use it to further a larger disqualification campaign. With three Trump appointees, the U.S. Supreme Court has a conservative majority of 6-3. The Colorado court ordered a stay of the decision until January 4, 2024, to give time for appeals.
“The court’s decision today affirms what our clients alleged in this lawsuit: that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist who disqualified himself from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and that Secretary Griswold must keep him off of Colorado’s primary ballot. It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” said CREW President Noah Bookbinder.
