Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley discussed why he believes the ruling to remove former President Donald Trump from Colorado’s state ballot is a “slippery slope,” stating the court is “wrong on the law.”
Turley appeared Tuesday on “The Ingraham Angle” to discuss the recent ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from the state’s ballot. The state Supreme Court cited a violation of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” Fox host Laura Ingraham, however, pointed out to the legal analyst Trump has never been formally charged for the Jan. 6 events, asking Turley if Republicans could do the same to Biden in red states.
Turley stated the Colorado Supreme Court not only “handed partisans on both sides” a tool to “shortcut elections,” but that it was a “very dangerous” move to make. (RELATED: Trump Disqualified From Colorado Ballot)
“Well, this court just handed partisans on both sides the ultimate tool to try to shortcut elections, and it’s very, very dangerous. I mean, this country is a powder keg, and this court is just throwing matches at it. And I think that it’s a real mistake. But I think that they’re wrong on the law,” Turley stated.
“You know, January 6 was many things, most of it not good. In my view it was not an insurrection. It was a riot. That doesn’t mean that the people responsible for that day shouldn’t be held accountable. But to call this an insurrection, for the purposes of disqualification, would create a slippery slope for every state in the Union.”
“This is a time when we actually need democracy. We need to allow the voters to vote. We need to hear their decision. And the court here just said, ‘You’re not going to get that in Colorado. We’re not going to let you vote for Donald Trump,'” Turley stated. “And you know you can dislike Trump, you can believe he’s responsible for January 6 but this isn’t the way to do it. I mean, it is, you know, for the people that say they’re trying to protect democracy. This is hands down the most anti-Democratic opinion I’ve seen in my life.”
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a 4-3 decision to have the former president removed from the state’s ballot. While Trump has not been convicted for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riots, the judges stated they did not need an act of Congress to remove the former president and found Trump to allegedly be “engaged” in the events of that day.