Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy filed an amicus brief backing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s bid to reverse the Colorado ballot decision.
Ramaswamy filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday arguing against the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove Trump from the state’s 2024 election ballot. Ramaswamy argued in the amicus briefing, filed on his behalf by his attorneys, that Trump’s political opponents sought to bar the former president from the state’s ballot because they fear “they cannot beat him in a free and fair election.”
Ramaswamy also noted the danger of the Colorado Supreme Court’s “un-American, unconstitutional, and unprecedented” decision, arguing it could set a precedent inviting partisan efforts to subvert other candidates in future elections.
Vivek Ramswamy announces he is submitting an amicus brief to SCOTUS to argue against the Colorado decision pic.twitter.com/6TpIjfof9r
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 11, 2024
“For secretaries of state and state supreme court justices, the path to national notoriety will be illuminated: To enhance your credibility among co-partisans, simply concoct a reason to declare a disfavored presidential candidate of the opposing party ineligible to run for office,” the brief stated. (RELATED: Colorado Secretary Of State Who Supports Removing Trump From Ballot Attended Private Biden Campaign Fundraiser)
Trump was disqualified from the Colorado ballot on Dec. 19, 2023, over Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says an “officer of the United States” who “engaged in insurrection” is ineligible to “hold any office.” Ramaswamy asserted that using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump was an invalid argument because the former president is not an “officer of the United States” in the context of the clause. Ramaswamy noted that the clause did not describe the president as an “officer” despite referring to the presidency as an “office.”
Ramaswamy vowed to withdraw himself from the Colorado ballot the day Trump was removed, ABC News reported. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the former president’s appeal last week, scheduling oral arguments for Trump’s rebuttal to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision for Feb. 8.