Former US president Donald Trump is ineligible for the US presidency because of his involvement in the January 2021 assault on the Capitol, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
The decision — which Trump’s campaign said it plans to appeal — drew immediate condemnation from Republicans.
The ruling, which only applies to the Colorado primary ballot, is the first of a number of legal actions across the country to successfully invoke the US constitution’s 14th amendment, which says “no person shall be a senator or representative in congress, or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any office, civil or military ... who ... engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”
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“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the court wrote. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the election code for the Colorado secretary of state to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the 4-3 majority wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
An earlier ruling by a lower court found that while Trump had clearly encouraged the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, the office of president was not included in the list of federal elected positions affected by the 14th amendment.
Noah Bookbinder of campaign group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which brought the original case, took to social media to hail Tuesday’s ruling, calling it “a huge moment for democracy.”
“It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country. Our Constitution clearly states that those who violate their oath by attacking our democracy are barred from serving in government,” he wrote.
The Colorado Supreme Court placed its ruling on hold until Jan. 4, anticipating an appeal to the US Supreme Court, which Trump’s campaign immediately said it would seek.
“We will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The “all-Democrat appointed” panel in Colorado was doing the bidding of a George “Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of crooked [US President] Joe Biden,” Cheung said.
“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls,” he said. “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.”
The judgement brought swift rebukes from senior Republicans, including US Senator Marco Rubio.
“The US has put sanctions on other countries for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court has done today,” Rubio wrote on social media.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who is running against Trump for the Republican nomination — said the US Supreme Court “should reverse” the Colorado ruling.
“The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal ground,” DeSantis wrote on X.
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