Former President Donald Trump has been disqualified from the Colorado ballot for the 2024 election over the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist” ban.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Trump violated the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” and is ineligible to be on the ballot in the state. The ruling is on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court until Jan. 4, CNN reported. The issue must be settled by Jan. 5, which is when the statutory deadline is to set the list of candidates for the Republican primary, according to CNN.
The state’s supreme court ruling found Colorado courts do not need an act of Congress to remove Trump from the ballot and the Jan. 6 riot amounted to an insurrection that Trump allegedly “engaged” in.
Chief Justice Brian Boatright, who dissented, argued Colorado’s election law “was not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection,” according to CNN.
“In the absence of an insurrection-related conviction, I would hold that a request to disqualify a candidate under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is not a proper cause of action under Colorado’s election code.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung slammed the ruling as “un-American.”
“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November,” Cheung said.
“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. We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits.”
The former president also criticized the ruling in a Truth Social post, calling the decision “weaponized.”
“‘Justice’ weaponization is a very dirty game to play, and it can have repercussions far greater than anything that Biden or his Thugs could understand. They ought to withdraw all of their Fake, Political Indictments against their Republican Opponent, me, immediately. This is a Pandora’s box, that works two ways, and it should be closed and tightly sealed RIGHT NOW.”
Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace ruled in November that Trump was not an “officer of the United States” and therefore could not be disqualified from holding office under Section Three of the 14th Amendment. Wallace did rule Trump “engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 through incitement” and his speech was not protected under the First Amendment.
The decision to remove Trump from the ballot impacts more than three million active voters in the state. Data shows amongst 3,783,006 active voters in the state as of November, 901,219 are registered republicans.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as information becomes available.
