Story of the Week •
December 21st, 2023
Is Trump Ineligible to Hold Public Office?
AP Photo/Reba Saldanha
In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to hold public office again. The justices ordered his name be excluded from the state's Republican primary ballot.
The ruling deemed that Trump violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which disqualifies candidates who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
The justices cite the speech Trump delivered to his supporters prior to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, as an example of his support for an insurrection.
Interestingly, the lower court also ruled Trump aided in an insurrection, but it also deemed the constitutional clause did not apply to the presidency.
The Trump team is appealing the decision, and the case will most likely be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Depending on where you sit on the political spectrum, the Colorado court's decision is either a subversion of democracy or a defense of the constitution. Media voices are staunchly divided on both the merits of the case and the case's odds of making it through the conservative-majority Supreme Court.
A writer in the Daily Beast (Left bias) argued upholding this ruling could end the Supreme Court's "credibility bleed-out." The writer states that the Supreme Court should decline to rule on the state court's decision, writing, "To do otherwise would be yet another step in consolidating the court’s power as the most powerful branch of government. It would also be another grievous wound to the integrity of the institution."
The National Review Editorial Board (Right bias) reiterated its position that Trump committed a "grave offense" in the aftermath of the 2020 election but took issue with the Colorado Supreme Court's interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The Amendment was originally passed in the aftermath of the Civil War to prevent former Confederates leaders from returning to the government. The Board argued that the Amendment "barred only active participants in an ongoing rebellion, such as those who joined the Confederate military or aided its war effort – not just those who incited secession by speeches before the fact."
A writer in the New York Times Opinion (Left bias) deemed the ruling an "epochal moment in American law and politics." Determining the moment to be historic, the writer concludes, "the constitutional bell has been rung in Colorado. A state supreme court has found that Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election by inciting a violent mob to attack the Capitol and is therefore disqualified from serving again as president. Even if the ruling is eventually overturned, the bell cannot be unrung."
A writer in the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) argued that Democrats are the very "threat to democracy" that they accuse Republicans of being, writing that "The distrust Trump sewed in elections by claiming he was cheated out of the presidency is what Democrats have done, with ranging levels of passion, for every presidential election they have lost since 2000. In 2000, they claimed it was the Supreme Court stealing the election from Democratic nominee Al Gore. In 2004, voting machines in Ohio allegedly rigged the state against Democratic nominee John Kerry. And in 2016, the Left asserted that 'Russian collusion' stole the White House from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton."
Regardless of the ruling's merit or expected outcome, it has altered the landscape of the election. Whether or not the ballot ruling remains or is overturned, the conversation has changed. An article in the Wall Street Journal (Center bias) determined the case "placed the Supreme Court in a position it likely would have preferred to avoid: having to resolve unprecedented legal issues that also ignite strong political passions among the nation’s electorate."
Mark your calendars: In 319 days, Americans decide who will lead the country through the challenges, known and unknown, that the coming years will bring.
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More from the Right
The Problem with the Colorado Supreme Court’s Decision Is That It’s Wrong
Charles C. W. Cooke (opinion)
"I’ve seen a lot of people argue that the core problem with the judgment is that it is 'undemocratic.' This, no doubt, is an attractive argument to make politically. But it is an incorrect argument -- or, at least, it’s an incomplete argument constitutionally. The problem with the Colorado supreme court’s decision is that it’s incorrect. Everything else flows from that."
More from the Center
Top Senate GOP leaders silent on decision to boot Trump from Colorado ballot
The Hill
"So while a group of GOP lawmakers is rallying to Trump’s defense and demanding the U.S. Supreme Court immediately overturn the decision in Colorado, McConnell, Thune and other Trump skeptics in the Senate GOP conference are sitting this one out. At the very least, they’re not eager to put more political pressure on the Supreme Court, which is now facing at least two major Trump-related rulings and will likely become a central player in the 2024 election."
More from the Left
Why the Colorado decision disqualifying Trump was absolutely right
CNN (opinion)
"It’s true that these criminal statutes and constitutional prohibitions are rarely invoked. But then insurrections rarely happen in the United States. The 14th Amendment was put in place to use in moments like this. Without accountability, coup attempts are just practice."
