Donald Trump barred from Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot

Access the Editor's Digest without charge.

Every week, Roula Khalaf, the Editor of the FT, chooses her preferred articles and presents them in her newsletter.

Colorado's Republican presidential primary ballot has banned Donald Trump because of his participation in attempts to invalidate the 2020 presidential election. This legal decision might heavily impact the upcoming 2024 race.

On Tuesday, the Colorado supreme court declared that based on the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, which bars US officers who have participated in insurrection or rebellion from holding a position, Trump was not qualified to be the president.

Trump has faced multiple legal obstacles in his pursuit for a second term as President, with the most recent setback being this decision. He is dealing with both criminal and civil cases in various parts of the country. Although the ruling only applies to Colorado's ballots, it could lead to a significant legal battle at the national level which may have long-lasting effects.

The Colorado judges stated that they did not come to these conclusions without proper consideration. They understood how significant and important the current queries were. Moreover, they were aware of their crucial responsibility to enforce the law impartially, without any bias or influences from the public's feedback towards their decisions.

The reason behind this choice comes from a lawsuit filed this year by some voters in Colorado. They claimed that Trump had incited a rebellion on January 6, 2021, when a bunch of his followers broke into the US Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the confirmation of Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

The court in Colorado, which consisted of seven members, has agreed by a margin of 4-3 that Trump ought to be disqualified. The majority made the discovery that the proof set before them had confirmed "President Trump's involvement in insurrection".

The majority stated that President Trump actively and obviously urged his followers to go to the Capitol to stop what he incorrectly claimed was a deception against the American people. This went on for a few months and was done intentionally and willingly by the president.

The head judge of Colorado, Brian Boatright, disagreed with the decision to continue the proceedings. He explained that although the law in Colorado covers aspects such as a candidate's age, it is not enough to deal with the intricacies of disqualifying someone for inciting rebellion. This is a much more complicated matter and cannot simply be overlooked.

Currently, Trump is leading the pack in the Republican competition to secure the nomination for the 2024 presidential election. Nevertheless, he is also being charged with criminal offenses in both federal court and the state of Georgia. What he is being accused of revolves around his supposed endeavors to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has entered a plea of not guilty.

The Trump campaign declared that the directive was fully incorrect and they will immediately initiate an appeal in the US Supreme Court.

A lot of his colleagues from the Republican party were very angry about the choice. Mike Johnson, an important Republican member of the House of Representatives, described it as "clearly a one-sided political move" and said he hoped that when the matter reached the US Supreme Court, they would throw out this irresponsible decision.

During a rally in Iowa on Tuesday, Trump expressed to his followers that it's obvious why Joe Biden and extreme leftists are trying their best to prevent him from winning. Trump believes that they are willing to break the rules outlined in the US Constitution just to come out on top. The President also considers Biden to be a danger to democracy and the country's freedoms.

Some of the people running against Trump in the Republican primary elections also spoke in support of him. Chris Christie, who used to be governor of New Jersey and has said negative things about Trump's legal issues in the past, said that he doesn't think any court should stop Trump from becoming President of the United States. Instead, he thinks that the people who are able to vote in the country should be the ones who decide if Trump should be President or not.

In the blog post, it was mentioned that Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, who is also a competitor of Donald Trump in the Republican primary, made a statement on X. In his statement, he criticized the actions of the Left in using 'democracy' as an excuse to misuse their power and even take legal action against a candidate without a valid reason. He went on to say that the US Supreme Court should intervene and overturn these decisions.

In the US, the electoral college is responsible for determining the winner of the presidential election through a total of 538 votes. Colorado has only 10 of these votes. Although attempts to disqualify President Trump in several states, such as Minnesota, Arizona, and Michigan, have been unsuccessful, a potential decision from the US Supreme Court could have a significant impact. If the Court decides to hear Trump's appeal, it could lead to similar challenges across the country or potentially halt them altogether.

The judges in Colorado have postponed their decision until January 4th. This is just one day before the deadline for the primary ballots to be approved. They have done this because they may need to get an opinion from the highest court in the country.

The majority group mentioned that they are aware that they are journeying through unfamiliar territory and that this particular situation includes multiple unique issues.

The US Supreme Court is currently contemplating whether or not they should hear a different case from the special counsel who is overseeing the federal criminal cases against Trump. Trump believes that he should be exempt from criminal prosecution over supposed election interference due to his presidency position during that time. The special counsel, Jack Smith, has a different stance and has requested for the high court to make a prompt ruling.

Further coverage was provided by Lauren Fedor and Alex Rogers.