Last night, the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified former President Donald Trump from appearing on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot. The ruling has the Colorado Republican Party threatening to call off the primary election in the state if Trump is kept off the ballot.
The Daily Wire's Ryan Saavedra reported on the Colorado GOP's response following the state supreme court's finding that Trump is ineligible for the presidency:
“We will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand,” the party said in responding to the Court's ruling.
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the opening lines of the court's opinion read. “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.”
The opinion said that the majority had “little difficulty concluding that substantial evidence” showed Trump's subversion of the democratic process by “a concerted and public use of force or threat of force by a group of people to hinder or prevent the U.S. government from taking the actions necessary to accomplish the peaceful transfer of power in this country.”
The majority concluded “the events of January 6 constituted an insurrection.”
Saavedra continued, noting legal reaction to the bombshell ruling:
Heritage Foundation election law expert and former FEC commissioner Hans von Spakovsky responded to the ruling by calling it “nakedly partisan” and “anti-democratic.”
“First, Section 3 of the 14 Amendment applies only to individuals who were previously a ‘member of Congress,' an ‘officer of the United States,' or a state official. Individuals who are elected—such as the president and vice president—are not officers within the meaning of Section 3,” he said. “Second, no federal court has convicted Trump of engaging in ‘insurrection or rebellion.' In fact, the Senate acquitted Trump of that charge in his second impeachment.”
“Third, some scholars assert Section 3 doesn't even exist anymore as a constitutional matter after the Amnesty Acts of 1872 and 1898–a matter completely ignored by the court today,” he continued. “Fourth, prior court rulings have held that Section 3 is not self-executing and Congress has never passed any federal law providing for enforcement, meaning that courts such as the Colorado Supreme Court have no legal authority to enforce Section 3.”
The Colorado Supreme Court temporarily stayed its ruling until Jan. 4, 2024, pending further appellate proceedings.
The Trump campaign has vowed to swiftly appeal the “completely flawed decision” to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“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,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
