The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to participate in the state’s primary elections.
This decision emerged from a close 4-3 vote. It creates a legal precedent. This precedent could lead to similar rulings in other states.
Such rulings might affect Trump’s ability to run in the 2024 presidential elections.
This event is unprecedented. Never before has a former U.S. president been declared ineligible by a court.
The court announced its decision on Tuesday. It requires Trump’s removal from Colorado’s Republican primary ballot.
This primary is scheduled for March 5. The court’s ruling relies on the 14th Amendment.
This amendment disqualifies those who have been involved in insurrection after swearing to support the Constitution.
A lower court had initially disagreed. It said this rule didn’t apply to a president. However, the state court overturned this view.
The court stated, “President Trump is disqualified under the 14th Amendment, Section 3.” Therefore, including him in the primaries is unlawful, as per the Electoral Code.
Trump’s possible disqualification links back to events after the 2020 presidential election. On January 6, 2021, Trump encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Following this, they attacked the Capitol to stop Joe Biden’s victory confirmation. This riot led to five deaths and extensive damage to the Capitol.
Despite this, Biden’s win was confirmed that evening.
Currently, this ruling affects only Colorado
Trump’s lawyers argue against this ruling. They claim the Capitol incident wasn’t severe enough to be called insurrection. They also say Trump’s speech is protected as free speech.
Currently, this ruling affects only Colorado. However, it could inspire similar decisions in other states.
The ultimate decision may come from the Supreme Court. Trump’s lawyers plan to appeal there. A Supreme Court decision could influence his eligibility across the U.S.
The Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, has the choice of which cases to take. They could delay handling this case, possibly until after the elections.