New Delhi: The Colorado Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict on Tuesday, ruling that former President Donald Trump cannot run for president in the state next year due to his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his followers. The court said that Trump violated a seldom-invoked clause of the U.S. Constitution that prevents officials who have participated in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
The court’s 4-3 decision marks the first time in U.S. history that a presidential contender has been disqualified from the presidency under this provision. The decision only affects Colorado’s Republican primary on March 5, but it could have implications for Trump’s status in the state for the general election on Nov. 5. Colorado is widely seen as a solidly Democratic state, so President Joe Biden is expected to win the state regardless of Trump’s situation there.
Trump pledged to challenge the decision at the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Colorado court agreed to postpone the implementation of its ruling until at least Jan. 4, 2024, to allow for an appeal.
The ruling paves the way for the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that includes three Trump nominees, to decide whether Trump is eligible to seek another term as president.
The lawsuit is regarded as a trial run for a broader effort to bar Trump from state ballots under section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was adopted after the U.S. Civil War to prevent supporters of the confederacy from serving in the government.
The Colorado court determined that the U.S. Constitution forbids Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024, from running for president because of his role in provoking violence at the Capitol as lawmakers gathered to certify the outcome of the 2020 election. The court’s majority admitted that the decision was “uncharted territory.”
“These conclusions are not reached easily,” the majority justices wrote. “We are aware of the enormity and significance of the questions now before us. We are also aware of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being influenced by public reaction to the decisions that the law requires us to reach.”
Trump’s campaign denounced the court decision as “undemocratic.” “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a totally flawed decision tonight and we will quickly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court,” a spokesperson from the Trump campaign said.
The decision overturns a ruling by a lower court judge who found that Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting his supporters to violence, but, ruled that as president, Trump was not an “officer of the United States” who could be disqualified under the amendment.
The Biden campaign declined to comment.