Will Donald Trump be able to run for president? On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that he was ineligible due to his actions during the storming of the Capitol.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Donald Trump ineligible for president because of his actions during the storming of the Capitol, raising a still incalculable shock wave in the tumultuous American presidential campaign.
All eyes are now on the Supreme Court of the United States, which the former Republican president will appeal, immediately announced one of his spokespersons.
By a majority of four out of seven justices, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s ruling finding that Donald Trump had “delivered to a rebellion on January 6, 2021” during the assault on the Capitol, but on the other hand considered that the 14th amendment of the Constitution, invoked to claim his ineligibility, did indeed apply to a president.
That day, hundreds of white-hot supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, the sanctuary of American democracy, to try to prevent the certification of the victory of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
The historic indictment of the ex-president on August 1 at the federal level then on August 14 by the state of Georgia (southeast) for his allegedly illicit attempts to obtain the reversal of the results of the 2020 election opened a legal debate on his possible ineligibility, leading to appeals in several states.
But on around fifteen procedures in progress in various states, including two rejected in Minnesota and Michigan, the justice of Colorado is the first to pronounce the ineligibility of Donald Trump.
In their decision ordering the electoral authorities of this western state to remove Donald Trump’s name from the ballots for the Republican primaries in 2024, the judges say they are “aware of moving into unknown territory”.
They also suspended this injunction until January 4deadline for the validation of primary ballots, in the event of an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States before then.
“If an appeal is filed with the Supreme Court before this stay expires, it will remain in effect and the election official must still include President Trump’s name on the 2024 primary ballot until she receives any injunction or mandate of the Supreme Court”according to their ruling.
Therefore, pending a possible decision by the Supreme Court, commentators point out that in all likelihood the name of Donald Trump will appear well on the ballots in Colorado as in the other states affected by “Super Tuesday”, March 5, 2024.
“Undemocratic”
The Republican camp nevertheless denounced an “undemocratic” decision.
“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision this evening and we will quickly go to the United States Supreme Court and seek a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.”said Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.
The Republican President of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, considered that the decision was “irresponsible” and nothing less than one “thinly veiled partisan attack.”
As for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s rival for the Republican primary, he called on the Supreme Court to overturn the decision. “The left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if that means abusing judicial power to exclude a candidate from elections based on fallacious legal arguments”he wrote on X.
“We won!” for its part reacted the anti-corruption citizen group Crew, at the origin of the procedure in Colorado.
This decision “is not only historic and justified, but necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country”added Crew president Noah Bookbinder in a press release.
“Mr. Trump acted with the specific intent to incite political violence and direct it towards the Capitol in order to prevent the certification of the election” of Joe Biden, said trial judge Sarah Wallace in her decision on November 17.
On the other hand, it considered that the 14th amendment of the Constitution, invoked by the applicants, did not apply to the president, while recognizing the existence of doubts on this point.
This amendment adopted in 1868, targeting at the time the supporters of the Southern Confederacy defeated during the Civil War (1861-1865), excludes from all public responsibility anyone, after having taken an oath to defend the Constitution, who would have engaged in acts of “rebellion”.