President Joe Biden responded Wednesday to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot under a 14th Amendment clause banning insurrectionists from holding public office.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Tuesday to disqualify the former president from the 2024 election. Biden avoided commenting on the court case but agreed with the court that the former president engaged in an insurrection. (RELATED: ‘Lacks Any Limiting Principles’: Colorado’s Ruling Kicking Trump Off Ballot Violates Constitution, Legal Experts Say)
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same,” the relevant clause of the 14th Amendment reads.
“Mr. President, your reaction to the Colorado ruling on Trump and the ballot?” a reporter asked Biden ahead of his remarks in Wisconsin.
“I’m not going to comment on a court case. [inaudible] That’s up to the court,” Biden responded. “That’s all I have to say about it.”
The reporter then asked the president whether Biden considered Trump an insurrectionist.
“Well, I think certain things are self-evident. You saw it all,” Biden said. “Now, whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it. None. Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on — about everything. Anyway, I’ve got to go do this event.”
The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling is on pause until Jan. 4 pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the majority ruling, the Colorado justices ruled that its state courts do not need an act of Congress to be able to remove Trump from the ballot while arguing that the Jan. 6 riot amounted to an insurrection that Trump allegedly “engaged” in.
The Trump campaign immediately responded to the ruling, announcing that they will appeal the decision. Every GOP presidential candidate chimed in and offered their support for the former president, except for former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson who argued that the “insurrection” will “haunt” Trump’s candidacy. Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he would protest the ruling by removing his name from the Colorado ballot unless Trump is reinstated.
In the dissenting opinion, three justices argued that the court misused its power, rushed its decision and didn’t properly weigh the repercussions of its ruling.
“I have been involved in the justice system for thirty-three years now, and what took place here doesn’t resemble anything I’ve seen in a courtroom,” Justice Carlos Samour wrote in his dissent before adding that the ruling could cause “chaos in our country.”