This post has been updated since it was originally posted on 11/23/2023.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that former president Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president after his involvement in the Jan. 6th 2o21 attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. They have since ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
According to the 14th Amendment, no person can be the president if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” and the plaintiffs have proved that Donald Trump has, even though his lawyers vehemently denied the former president’s involvement in the attack in any form. Keep reading for more information.
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Colorado Supreme Court Disqualifies Donald Trump From 2024 PResidency
Donald Trump has been disqualified based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which reads: "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 engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
On Tuesday, the decision was made, and the court released the following statement: "We conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. Therefore, the Secretary may not list President Trump's name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him."
Lawyers for the plaintiffs called eight witnesses to prove that according to the above, Trump should be disqualified from running for president, including Daniel Hodges and Winston Pingeons, two police officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6th 2021. They testified that the rioters made it very clear that they believed they were acting on behalf of Donald Trump.
The other witnesses, including law professors, a deputy elections director, the chief investigative counsel for the Jan. 6th committee, and California representative Eric Swalwell, all added to the case against Donald Trump.
Gerard Magliocca, a law professor and expert on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, said specifically that the word "insurrection" in the Constitution refers to "any public use of force or threat of force by a group of people to hinder or prevent the execution of the law" and that "engaged" refers to "any voluntary act in furtherance of an insurrection, including words of incitement." This statement points to Donald Trump's direct involvement.
Trump's Lawyers Deny His Involvement
Trump's lawyers called seven witnesses during the trial, including Amy Kremer, an organizer of the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol. She mentioned that she and the "freedom-loving citizens" that were involved in this attack did not see any indication of violence from Donald Trump during his speech.
During Trump lawyer Scott Gessler's closing argument, he addressed the claim that the attackers believed that they were acting on Trump's behalf, saying that the extremists deluded themselves into thinking that and it was not the former president's fault.
Prior to the trial, Trump's lawyers made several motions to dismiss the entire case, and Judge Sarah B. Wallace rejected all of them. As of now, Donald Trump has been disqualified from running for president in 2024.
Reponses From Donald Trump & Joe Biden
Both the current president, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, have spoken out since the ruling. Joe Biden originally said he wouldn't comment on the case, but when a reporter asked him if Trump is an insurretionist, Biden replied, "He certainly supported an insurrection. There's no question about it. None. Zero."
Donald Trump, on the other hand, did not address the ruling on Tuesday night, rather he was going on abusive rants about immigration at an Iowa campaign event, but he has posted to social media. "What a shame for our country!!!" he wrote. "A sad day for America!!!"
