Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump's candidacy in the state's primary next year is prohibited on constitutional grounds, NBC News reported.
"A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution," the ruling said. "Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
The court put its decision on hold until January 4 to allow for further appeals, according to NBC News.
The first-of-its kind ruling stems from a lawsuit that focused a little-known provision in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.
Tuesday’s decision reverses a lower court's ruling that said Trump had engaged in insurrection by inciting a riot on January 6, 2021, but that presidents are not subject to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because they are not an “officer of the United States.”
Section 3 of the Civil War-era 14th Amendment says: “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.”
Trump is likely to try to appeal Tuesday’s Colorado ruling to the US Supreme Court.
In a statement issued after Tuesday’s ruling, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November. The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” said Cheung.
“We have full confidence that the US Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,” the statement concluded.
Courts have ruled against similar efforts to get Trump banned from the ballot in Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota. The Michigan ruling has been appealed to that state’s Supreme Court.