Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley said Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling to keep former President Donald Trump on the GOP primary ballot “shattered” the Democrats’ narrative.
Turley appeared on “Hannity” to discuss SCOTUS’ 9-0 ruling that stated Trump could not be removed from Colorado’s ballot after the state disqualified him for allegedly violating the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” Fox host Sean Hannity questioned the law professor if he was surprised at all by the Democrats’ reaction in regards to the decision. (RELATED: Supreme Court Rules Trump Cannot Be Removed From Colorado Ballot)
“I was not surprised by the reaction. For months you’ve had networks and newspapers building this up as what some called an unassailable theory, that the only way that he would not be disqualified is if the Republicans on the Supreme Court protected him and enacted like ideological robots. That whole narrative was shattered in oral argument and again today with a unanimous decision. I think a lot of people were not quite sure how to spin out of that, because they couldn’t just say ‘Oh, well look, it’s just the six conservatives again,'” Turley stated.
Turley continued to state that he believed the “real winner” was both the Supreme Court and the American people. The law professor noted the contrast from the court’s opinion versus Democrats like Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin who stated that his party was already “working” on a bill to disqualify Trump as an insurrectionist.
“I think that the real winner here is not Donald Trump, but rather, it’s the United States Supreme Court and ultimately the American people. The court was designed for this moment. This is what the framers hoped what would happen. They wanted the court to be able to transcend the politics of the moment, to be able to rise above that, and to point citizens to a horizon – a constitutional horizon the unites them all. And they did that,” Turley continued.
“They said that this is not what the Constitution means and if we go down this road, it’s going to add a gross instability to the country. And what you see with Representative Raskin and others is that you see this contrast. Where the court says we don’t want chaos and what’s the response from Representative Raskin? Well, then we’ll try another way to bring chaos. We’ll try to do this in Congress – which will never succeed.”
Both Maine and Illinois additionally kicked the former president off the state’s ballot, however, decisions regarding all three states were pending upon the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter. Within their ruling, the justices expressed their concerns regarding the court getting involved within the matter and stated that the “evolving electoral map could dramatically change the behavior of voters, parties, and States across the country, in different ways and at different times.”
The Supreme court is expected to hear a second case regarding the former president which will determine his immunity from prosecution within his federal election interference case led by special counsel Jack Smith. The oral arguments are set for April, with Trump’s trial placed on hold until the court’s decision.