The Colorado Supreme Court managed to bring to its defense a variety of staunch anti-Trump Republicans, as well as his fellow 2024 Republican rivals.
The Centennial State’s highest court determined in an explosive 4-3 ruling Tuesday night that former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from the state’s 2024 primary ballot for his actions around Jan. 6, 2021.
“I think the Supreme Court of the United States is going to reverse that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday at a campaign event in Iowa.
“They’re doing all of this basically to solidify support for him in the primaries, get him into the general. And the whole general election is going to be all this legal stuff.”
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy strongly condemned the ruling and pledged to withdraw from the Colorado Republican primary until Trump’s name is restored, and urged his rivals to do the same.
“This is what a real attack on democracy looks like: In an unprecedented, unconstitutional, un-American decision, a group of Democratic judges are barring Trump from the election in Colorado,” Ramaswamy said.
“Today’s decision is the latest election interference tactic to silence political opponents and swing the election in favor of whatever puppet the Democrats have set up this time by depriving Americans of the right to vote for their preferred candidate.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to commit to boycotting the Colorado competition but denounced the high court’s ruling. ZUMAPRESS.com
Until now, other contestants in the 2024 Republican primary have refrained from going that far.
“The idea that judges are in charge of deciding who can and cannot be on the ballot is really unthinkable,” the presidential hopeful said. Nikki Haley told Fox News.
“I’m going to defeat Donald Trump on my own. “I don’t need a judge to take it off the ballot.”
Nikki Haley called the decision “unthinkable” and said voters should decide Donald Trump’s fate. REUTERS
Even Trump’s most ardent Republican critic in the primary, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, felt the Colorado ruling went too far.
“No court should stop Donald Trump from being president. “The voters of this country should stop him from being president of the United States,” Christie said.
No court should stop Donald Trump from being president. The voters of this country should prevent him from being president of the United States. pic.twitter.com/77ChhLFkFz
– Chris Christie (@GovChristie) December 20, 2023
Chris Christie, who spent most of the campaign attacking Donald Trump, defended him over Tuesday night’s ruling. AP
Anti-Trump Republicans defend him
Surprisingly, some disillusioned Republicans who have all but given up on Trump in 2024 rallied to his defense.
“I believe this case is legally incorrect and unsustainable. And I think this kind of stretching the law, taking these hyper-aggressive positions to try to get Trump out of the race is counterproductive, former Attorney General Bill Barr told CNN.
“He feeds on grievances like a fire feeds on oxygen, and this will end up being a grievance that will help him.”
Barr had a bitter fight with Trump at the end of his presidency over legal machinations to overturn the 2020 election that coincided with the Capitol riot.
He has publicly urged Republican primary voters to nominate someone other than Trump.
Although Adam Kinzinger stopped short of defending Donald Trump, he expressed some apprehension about the ruling. AP
Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans who served on the now-defunct House Jan. 6 Committee, said he was “mixed” on the issue.
“I think this is probably good for Donald Trump,” Kinzinger told CNN, referring to the politics of the decision.
“What I struggle with, and the reason I guess I can’t give a definitive answer, is that the Constitution exists for a reason,” he added. “[I’m] Since I am not a constitutional lawyer, I have to let the judges and, ultimately, the Supreme Court decide.”
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who ran against Trump in the 2016 primary and has been one of the most outspoken Republicans against him in public, criticized the ruling.
“I don’t need to expose my good faith as my opposition to Donald Trump. But this is pure partisan ridiculousness,” Kasich told MSNBC. “Look, you have a partisan court: all Democrats. They could barely – barely – say that he should be disqualified.”
“Think about the precedent for this.”
Donald Trump raised a huge amount of funds from the Colorado news and his campaign promised he would appeal the decision. AP
Some fatigue from the left
Although most Democrats applauded the news of Trump’s disqualification, there have been some rumblings of dismay over that decision.
“Do I think Trump is guilty of inspiring an insurrection and doing nothing to stop it? I was there. Absolutely,” presidential hopeful Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) wrote in X.
“Do I think it’s wrong to exclude him from elections in Colorado without a conviction? Absolutely. Do I think the SCOTUS should weigh in immediately? Absolutely.”
Do I think Trump is guilty of inspiring an insurrection and doing nothing to stop it? I was there. Absolutely.
Do I think it’s wrong to exclude him from elections in Colorado without a conviction? Absolutely.
Do I think the SCOTUS should weigh in immediately? Absolutely.
-Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) December 20, 2023
Presidential contender and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who flipped from Democrat to independent in October, eviscerated the state court’s opinion as “incorrect.”
“When a court in another country disqualifies an opposition candidate from running, we say, ‘That’s not real democracy.’ Now it’s happening here.’ “Now it’s happening here.” wrote in X.
“I want to beat him in a fair election, not because he was expelled from the polls. Let the voters choose, not the courts.”
Trump blocked from the elections in Colorado. When a court in another country disqualifies an opposition candidate from running, we say, “That’s not a real democracy.” Now it’s happening here.
– Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) December 20, 2023
Technically, the ruling against Trump is stayed until January 4, to give his team time to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court, something he has promised to do.
Colorado superior court judges determined that Trump’s conduct “constituted open, voluntary and direct participation in the insurrection” and invoked Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, to remove him from the ballot.
Republicans in Colorado have hinted at plans to shift to a caucus system if that decision stands. The Centenario State primaries are scheduled for March 5.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn