Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on Thursday arguing that former President Donald Trump should remain on the primary ballot in Colorado.
The high court is set to review a landmark Colorado Supreme Court ruling that found Trump, 77, ineligible for high office because of his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Ramaswamy, 38, is Trump’s closest ally in the 2024 race and argued in the filing that he has special vision as the Republican candidate on the Colorado ballot.
Ramaswamy argued that the former commander in chief should not be excluded from the Colorado elections for three reasons: first, because the decision was inspired by his political opponents; second, because the decision will apply to a flood of future cases; and third, because Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — which was used in the ruling — does not apply to former presidents.
Ramaswamy has been Trump’s staunchest defender in the 2024 Republican field. Getty Images
“President Trump’s political opponents have sought to disqualify him from the election in several states because they fear they will not be able to defeat him in a free and fair election,” the unlikely candidate wrote in the report reviewed by The Post.
Ramasmway previously vowed to withdraw from the Colorado ballot if Trump is not reinstated, and called on his Republican rivals to do the same.
The court will hear arguments in the case on February 8 and the Colorado primary will be held on March 5.
Trump’s team filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court to review the Colorado Supreme Court ruling. AP
The Civil War-era amendment states: “No person shall…hold any office, civil or military, under the United States…who, having previously taken an oath…as an officer of the United States… .to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the same, or shall have given aid or comfort to its enemies.”
Maine’s secretary of state also excluded Trump from the primary election last month, using the same reasoning.
Ramaswamy asserted that there is no definitive textual evidence that “a United States official” refers to former presidents.
Donald Trump has warned that there will be “big problems” if the Supreme Court does not rule in his favor. Gabriela Bass
Excluding Trump from the ballot will open a “Pandora’s box” in which future candidates will be disqualified, Ramaswamy continued.
“Unless this temptation is quickly quelled, it is not difficult to imagine a presidential election in the not-too-distant future in which each major-party candidate appears on the ballot in only half of the states,” he wrote.
The Supreme Court’s Colorado decision will likely have repercussions in other states where Trump’s eligibility has been questioned.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn