2023-12-20 02:00:32
Former president of the United States Donald Trump is not eligible to hold office again, The Colorado Supreme Court ruled this Tuesday, because they affirm that the 14th Constitutional Amendment disqualifies him for the insurrection on January 6, when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol.
It is an explosive decision that could turn the elections arounds of 2024 because the tycoon is the favorite in the polls and because this sentence It could trigger a knock-on effect in other states.
Besides, It is the first time in the history of the United States that this article is used in an effort to prevent a candidate from running for the White House again.
In a lengthy ruling, the Court orders the Colorado Secretary of State to exclude Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballots that are on March 5, on the so-called “Super Tuesday.”
The justices overturned a Denver district judge’s decision last month and, on the contrary, pointed out that Section 3 of the 14th Constitutional Amendment applies to Trump, which disqualifies people who have participated in an insurrection against the Constitution after having sworn an oath to support her when she took office.
“The 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 in a 4-3 ruling.
“Because he is disqualified, it would be an unlawful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to include him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
“We do not come to these conclusions lightly,” wrote the majority. “We are aware of the magnitude and weight of the issues now before us. Likewise, we are aware of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being influenced by public reaction to the decisions we make. “The law orders us to take.”
Donald Trump’s spokesman denounced the ruling. “The Colorado Supreme Court this afternoon issued a completely erroneous decision and we will quickly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a simultaneous request to stay this deeply undemocratic decision,” Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The Supreme Court of the Nation has 3 justices appointed by Trump and has a conservative majority.
Trump is first in the polls in the Republican Party primaries and is almost 50 points ahead of his closest rival, Ron DeSantis. In the general elections, scheduled for November next year, he would compete with Democrat Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election.
The polls give him between 4 and 5 points ahead of Biden, who is complicated with his economic management and in the Middle East. Trump also faces several criminal and civil charges for obstruction of the 2020 election, secret documents he took to his Mar-a-Lago home and tax fraud by his company. But nothing seems to affect him in the polls: as time goes by, he gets stronger.
Last year, Democrats began floating the idea of using the 14th Amendment to influence the outcome of the upcoming election by removing Trump from the ballot in as many states as possible. Section Three mandates that persons who were involved in an insurrection would be disqualified from holding any office. It was originally created to apply to former members of the Confederacy after the Civil War. In other states, similar efforts to remove Trump using the 14th Amendment have been rejected.
This decision could spread to other more liberal states, but it is also likely to ignite the fury of the most conservative Trumpist sectors, who see this decision as a politically motivated maneuver to prevent their candidate from returning to the White House.
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