Colorado Supreme Court kicks Trump off ballot

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By JOE MUELLER | THE CENTER SQUARE

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled former President Donald Trump should not appear on the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.

In a 4-3 decision, the state’s highest court ruled Trump is “disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” In a 213-page document, the justices, all appointed by Democrat governors, overruled a Colorado District Court decision by Judge Sarah Wallace stating Trump’s speech on Jan. 6 “incited imminent lawless violence” but didn’t meet the definition of “engagement” found in the 14th Amendment.

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Colorado Supreme Court justices wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

Lawsuits in other states also seek to disqualify Trump from the presidential primary ballot but an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court could now be the deciding factor.

“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,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement on Tuesday.

Six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters filed a suit against Griswold on Sept. 6 to remove Trump from the ballot. When the district court ruled in favor of Trump, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., said it would appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.

“I will continue to follow court guidance on this important issue,” Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement after the ruling.

The justices in the majority were Monica Marquez, William Hood III, Richard Gabriel and Melissa Hart. Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, Carlos A. Samour and Maria E. Berkenkotter dissented.

Chief Justice Boatright wrote Colorado’s election code wasn’t “enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection. In my view, this cause of action should have been dismissed.”

The ruling stated the court’s admission of 31 findings from the “Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol” was appropriate.

“Under the deferential standard of review that governs, we perceive no error by the district court in admitting portions of the report into evidence at trial,” the justices wrote.

The justices also wrote the definitions of “engaged in” and “insurrection” aren’t defined in the U.S. Constitution.

“Therefore, we must make a legal determination regarding what the drafters and ratifiers meant when they chose to deploy these words in Section Three,” the justices wrote. “Mindful of the deferential standard of review afforded a district court’s factual findings, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in concluding that the events of January 6 constituted an insurrection and that President Trump engaged in that insurrection.”

Update: Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy issued a lengthy statement condemning the decision, saying he himself would withdraw from the Colorado primary unless Trump is allowed on the ballot, and asking other leading GOP presidential candidates to also withdraw:

This is what an *actual* attack on democracy looks like: in an un-American, unconstitutional, and *unprecedented* decision, a cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado. Having tried every trick in the book to eliminate President Trump from running in this election, the bipartisan Establishment is now deploying a new tactic to bar him from ever holding office again: the 14th Amendment.

I pledge to *withdraw* from the Colorado GOP primary unless Trump is also allowed to be on the state’s ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley to do the same immediately – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country.   Today’s decision is the latest election interference tactic to silence political opponents and swing the election for whatever puppet the Democrats put up this time by depriving Americans of the right to vote for their candidate of choice.   The 14th Amendment was part of the “Reconstruction Amendments” that were ratified following the Civil War. It was passed to prohibit former Confederate military and political leaders from holding high federal or state office. These men had clearly taken part in a rebellion against the United States: the Civil War. That makes it all the more absurd that a left-wing group in Colorado is asking a federal court to disqualify the 45th President on the same grounds, equating his speech to rebellion against the United States.

And there’s another legal problem: Trump is not a former “officer of the United States,” as that term is used in the Constitution, meaning Section 3 does not apply. As the Supreme Court explained in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (2010), an “officer of the United States” is someone appointed by the President to aid him in his duties under Article II, Section 2. The term does not apply to elected officials, and certainly not to the President himself.   The Framers of the 14th Amendment would be appalled to see this narrow provision—intended to bar former U.S. officials who switched to the Confederacy from seeking public office—being weaponized by a sitting President and his political allies to prevent a former President from seeking reelection. Our country is becoming unrecognizable to our Founding Fathers.

213 COMMENTS

    • Well if that is how you feel, you may want to get a jump on moving the National Parks and multiple military installations.

        • Geography dictates the locations of military installations, especially the Navy. Can the U.S. allow the loss of naval bases because extremists want a “national divorce”? The question of secession has been answered definitively by the War Between the States and Texas v. White (1869). Everybody has to live peaceably within Constitutional law, or risk death trying to overthrow it by revolution.

    • The U.S. is infected with a virus. It’s a cancer on the democrat cult and young Americans,. It’s called TDS

      TDS includes Narcissistic behavior, Passive-aggressive tendencies, misogyny, adolescent bully tactics, dissociation from reality, Paranoia, Complete lack of intelligence, Pathological lying, Sociopathy and finally Violent psychotic outbursts if you use the “T” word, during which their thoughts and perceptions are disrupted and they may have difficulty recognizing what is real and what is not. TDS is spread through communities from delusional social media interaction such as FAKE NEWS , followed by peer acceptance of the cult of biden.

      Living near someone with ” Trump derangement syndrome ” can be challenging. For persons to recover from TDS, they must first recognize and accept the shame of what others see about them is true. and stop watching fake news, forever.

      FAKE NEWS WILL TELL YOU ,TDS IS A Republican problem, Thats why they are called fake news. Stop watching fake news for 30 days and you will feel like you walked out of the fog.
      PLEASE SHARE ❤

    • There is no such thing as a “federal election.” All elections are held at the state or lower levels of government. For US president and vice-president, the results of state elections are sent via electors to congress which then tabulates and certifies the collective results. The process is known as the “Electoral College.” As to the lower federal offices of Senators and Representatives, they are also elected by the states’ elections processes. The states send certified results to Congress which then swears in the state-elected senators and reps.

  3. Should be overturned by SCOTUS.

    If the left is so concerned about democracy, why do they work so hard to undermine it?
    Almost like they don’t trust the voters.

    • That won’t happen. Roberts saved Obama care, probably leaked the ruling on Roe, and will almost certainly side with allowing states to remove him from the ballot.

    • To paraphrase others on this site with regard to other issues, it’s not a democracy, it’s a constitutional republic. And in this case, the actual text of the constitution (14th Amendment) is clear, for all you “originalists”. It doesn’t require a criminal conviction, and it says nothing about how to determine if insurrection or “aid and confort to enemies” has been committed or not. Which leaves it for the courts to decide. And they will. Trumpers won’t accept it if he is kept off the ballot, but they also won’t accept it if he loses the election again. So we are screwed in either case.

  4. It’s setting forward a dangerous precedent toward kicking off any ballot of one’s political opponents including Democrats in tightly controlled run Republican states, districts, or precincts.

    • Don’t be so worry Jen, or shall you. To be kicked off, you will just need to be an elected official, have sworn oath to defend the nation, AND engaged in a insurrection against the nation.

      • Insurrection is when elected representatives turn against the known will of the people and work against the will of the people. The founders followed Bouvier’s Law Dictionary not current socialist media jargon.

        • Insurrection: “a violent uprising against an authority or government.”
          The months long attack on the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, was an insurrection. The feds didn’t care much about that one, though. They like this one because it’s handy to use to “influence a U.S. election”.

      • Oh, you know who is interesting? A. Pittman on Jan 6. She was strangely silent on the radio for someone at her pay grade in the museum city on Jan 6th. The Senators were evacuated but she was not saying much to direct the evacuation. Why was that? She was on the clock and at the epicenter at the time and what btw was her annual salary? Senator Lisa Murkowski knows. We don’t.

    • You may have missed an important part of the story. No one was kicked off any ballot. An insurrectionist was determined not to be eligible to be on the ballot.

      • You radical leftist idiots and your hyperbolic “insurrection” rhetoric already!
        If it weren’t so profoundly dangerous to this country, it would be laughable.

        • Oh there you are with your one hit wonder Radical leftist this, Radical leftist that. You need to come up with more material Jeffy, but of course when you’re in a cult it’s hard

          • If the radical leftist extremist shoe fits, then wear it.

            And it fits you very well, RINO.

            You and your ilk are traitors to this country, and to everything good and decent that the USA USED to stand for.

          • We’re glad that you highly educated elitists rose above the “vast right wing conspiracy”……..or did you?

      • I’ll try again. Maybe this one won’t mysteriously disappear.

        Trump has no yet been convicted, much less indicted for any insurrection, real or imagined.
        No matter how desperately you might wish otherwise.

        • You may want to try again as you obviously do not understand the process. Colorado held a week long hearing where both side presented evidence and witnesses. The judge made a factual finding that Trump engaged in insurrection.

          Let’s say I was only 25 years old and wanted to run for president, Colorado or any state would rule that I was not eligible to be on the ballot. I wouldn’t be charged or convicted of a crime. I would be ruled ineligible based on a factual finding, most likely based on review of my birth certificate. It’s really not that complicated.

          • What a silly answer!
            Not meeting the age requirement is not comparable and far different than a judgement based on somebody’s “impression” of a perceived misdeed. Treason, which insurrection boils down to is a criminally punishable offense and requires a legal judgement and conviction. Then there is the presumption of innocence the judges ignored. It is very clear that judges want their thumb on the scale. For that move the voters in Colorado should recall them all, as their bias is on full display.
            This leads to the very obvious conclusion that you have to cheat. All this hand-wringing and bellyaching about our democracy being in danger, yet when democracy is hard at work for a guy you don’t like, all bets are off!
            Let the system work and the voters decide instead of this preemptive meddling that only makes you look desperate and sneaky.

          • I’ve made a finding based on your posts you’re a partisan idiot with no understanding of the legal system, the Constitution, or due process.

            Neither finding is legally actionable. Mine is at least accurate.

            No matter how many different word salads you toss, it doesn’t change reality.

            One judge in Colorado or anywhere else can make that call. Only a jury can after a long trial.

          • What process don’t you understand fanni. “ALL political power – all of it not just the indictor approved political power – all power rests with the people” unless the US Constitution has been secretly destroyed by foreigners. Has it been destroyed, fanni?

          • Being 25 years old isn’t a crime, and neither is lying or being stupid, so you may not be POTUS, and you will not be punished for your traits or sins. Insurrection is a crime, and one which President Trump has not been convicted of, so he is “not guilty”.

          • A Taxpayer – Hence a five day evidentiary hearing on the insurrection question vs. a ten second read of a birth certificate.

            I do enjoy a good MAGA meltdown!

          • Fannie, cute!
            Your examples are mutually exclusive as several other comments pointed out. To determine culpability a trial is required which is NOT the same as a hearing. Since there was no judiciary trial (or even a charge) adjudicating the insurrection claim, this is clearly an over-reach and an assault on our representative republic.
            The advantage of being old is that we have been there and seen things and so our purpose is to educate those “young skulls full of mush”! You are welcome!

        • You might wanna learn to read. Conviction or charges not necessary. But that goes against your need to defend an incompetent candidate who did act against our government in a violent effort to prevent proper transfer of power after being voted out

          • “………Conviction or charges not necessary………”
            The absolute dream of a tyrant. Opinion (theirs only) rules.
            Dream on. If that world arises, it won’t be long before it goes up in flames. Robespierre survived less than two years after he led his revolution. Sic semper tyrannis.

      • While I summarily reject your notion, as political speech is protected by the first amendment and holding Trump responsible for rioters is ridiculous on its face,
        let’s play that game:
        If the court can keep a former President off the ballot, despite the fact the he has NOT been charged using the 14th amendment,
        then let it also consider the current office holder’s physical and mental deficiencies, which should disqualify him under the 25th amendment. Add to that a dereliction of duty charge for allowing millions of illegals into the country.

        A representative republic only works when we ALL stick to the rules established and not abuse them to get rid of the people the ruling class deems “unsuitable”. That isn’t their call. That prerogative belongs to every voter and shall not be usurped!

      • President Trump returned the power of the republic back to the people. The corrupt call it insurrection (against them). Domestic insurrection is when elected servants on the clock and public dime turn against the stated, known will of the people.

      • The culpability lies with many more than just the one person everyone loves to point their finger at .Aunt Nancy had the opportunity to beef up security to a safe level but for some mysterious reason she denied the request made by the accused himself.
        Seems mighty fishy why a planned insurrectionist would request more security but she denied the request but squealed bloody murder when she discovered someone had pilfered her laptop and disgraced her office even more by planting their A** on her chair.
        OH the HORROR!

      • So when did a court of law convict him of insurrection? An unarmed uprising is far from insurrection. If there would have been an insurrection we would not be having this conversation today we would be in a civil war with the DEEP STATE.

      • How, btw would you know exactly what another equal in value person may have “missed”? Think about it. Aren’t you speculating just a bit on your continuum to delusions of grandeur? Indulge yourself as you wish.

  5. I bet he’ll be on the ballot after the Supreme Court looks at it. He would have a HUGE write in if he wasn’t officially on the ballot.
    The elections are a farce and 2020 showed that obviously. Nobody thinking critically thinks biden got 81 million votes. This wake up should result in a complete overhaul of the election methods. Rank choice needs to go away, as well.

  6. Barring Trump from the ballot under the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment seems like a straightforward, “originalist” application of the Constitution to me. There’s no need for legal hairsplitting on the issue. It walks like a duck. It quacks like a duck. Ergo, it is a duck. A lot of people, including Republicans, don’t want Trump on the ballot. Here’s another chance to keep him off.

    And no Ramaswamy is icing on the cake. Good riddance to him, too.

    • The bit where the Senate decided Trump did not participate or incite an insurrection kind of runs that string of logic.

    • Hans I get that you are not enamored with Trump. That’s your prerogative as a voter.
      What is NOT your prerogative is to manipulate the system with all means possible to deprive other voters of that very same right, because YOU deem him unfit. Who elected you and your ilk dictators???
      All this moaning about democracy, but clearly you really hate our form of government when it does not go your way and the deplorables don’t follow your orders.

      All I ask is a level playing field and the ability for every voter to get a say.

    • “…….Here’s another chance to keep him off……..”
      LOL. You folks are entertaining, I’ll hand that to you. We’ve seen every dirty trick in the book since 2016 (and a sizable collection from your imaginations as well) to keep Trump either out of power or dancing to your dumpster fires.
      And here we are, after three years of a disastrous replacement administration, with the world on fire, and a good ten years of off-the-charts record gun and ammo sales domestically,…….and Trump leading in every poll out there by double digits for the 2024 election, and him (again) not even campaigning. You morons are campaigning for him. Add to that a solid SCOTUS majority, and your sunset is clearly at hand.
      It’s looking to me like your fannies got too close to your dumpster fires. I’m guessing that Trump’s second term is going to be quite different than his first, and I don’t think y’all are going to like the changes. Indeed, I’m quite confident that you folks are stupid enough to initiate the changes yourselves, just like South Carolina did in January of 1861. You’re going to do it to yourselves just like you’ve been screwing yourselves over for the past several years, but in even grander scale.
      Couldn’t happen to a more deserving gaggle of goons. Good luck. You’re going to need it.

  9. The Supremes now have the chance to end Trump once and for all. Do it. End him, and let the country get back to normal.

        • Bosk, you have hit the radical leftist extremist nail on the head!

          For those who lust for power above all else — which literally defines today’s radical leftist extremists — EVERYTHING, every lie, every corruption of the voting process, every manipulation, every evasion of the law and justice itself, is in play and is, in their eyes, fair game.

          This is really a battle of good against evil, and evil is winning.

    • Go and actually read the constitution and the amendments. this is a federal election not state. Where has DJT been charged and convicted of said insurection.

    • “The Supremes now have the chance to end Trump once and for all………”
      Lincoln wasn’t on a quarter of the existing states ballots in 1860, yet it was he who ended slavery once and for all. Welcome to your future. The end is at hand, and you delivered yourself there.

  10. This is a pivotal moment for the Supremes. (Not the trio that appeared on the Sullivan show.) When Trump was elected in 2016 cars were overturned and fried in D.C. More recently, Palestinian supporters occupied Capitol office buildings and NOTHING was done about it. Trump tells people to “peacefully protest” in 2020, the D.C. police gladly usher his supports in, push aside barricades and, Ray Epps encourages them to get on in there. Stupid people? Yeah. All Trump supporters? Definitely not. Keep watch on this one, kids. If it goes south, you’d better start building a bunker.

    • “……..If it goes south, you’d better start building a bunker.”
      I think it has been liberals who waited until the end to arm themselves, and even still wring their hands over gun ownership. The only dangerous ones are the criminals, and they’re having their field day right now. I have a very strong feeling that President Trump is going to be quite ready to deploy the troops this time. The games are over. The vultures are coming home to roost.
      Anchorage is a federal city. It started that way in 1915, and there is an airborne infantry division headquartered along the entire northern border of town. The headquarters for every LEO in the state is here, not to mention the National Guard. We’re dripping authority here. There has never been a riot in Anchorage. The scum are quite outnumbered.
      This ain’t Portland.

  12. If the house would air what we were supposed to see on J6, all the election fraud evidence, none of this would be happening. Followed by a real investigation into what and who instigated J6. Weird how they refuse to do that.

  14. I’d like to hope and think that SCOTUS will decide unanimously on this decision like they do a majority of the time, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see a couple of the newer leftist justices side with the destruction of democracy in our Constitutional Republic. If there’s one thing that’s certain Democrats hate democracy.

  15. Colorado has been the epicenter of mass shootings for over two decades. Congratulations Colorado high court judges. You just nominated your state to be the Fort Sumpter of 2024. It’s going to be bloody.

    • “……..You just nominated your state to be the Fort Sumpter of 2024. It’s going to be bloody.”
      And, remarkably, it’s them shooting each other. A classic circular firing squad.
      “What? Me worry?”

  16. Good riddance. Trump is toxic. If Trump wasn’t such a narcissist Biden would have lost. Instead we now have the massive damage the Biden Crime Family is inflicting on our nation. Lets hope Trump is booted off enough state ballots that he has to drop out. Trump is a draft dodging coward who grew our national debt by 7.8 trillion.

    • The dishonest fool, M, has perfected the liberal art of lying with facts: As reported by The Washington Post, based on Treasury Department data, Trump inherited a $20 trillion debt when he took office, increasing to $27.8 trillion when he left, an increase of 39 percent. However, Trump also oversaw unprecedented spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to the public health and economic emergency that the crises presented. Spending in the last 10 months of his term accounted for half, or $4.3 trillion, of the 40 percent increase in debt that Trump oversaw during his presidency, the Post reported. Here’s a fact: Under Obama, however, the public debt increased by about $9.3 trillion from when he was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, to when he left office on Jan. 19, 2017…WITHOUT a pandemic!

      • PJ, what’s it like to be in a cult? You Trump cultists are undeterred by any of the horrid things Trump has done. He grows the debt by almost $8 trillion, and you excuse it. The CARES act was $2.2 trillion- signed into law 6 moths before Trump left office. It was a boondoggle- almost $300 billion was stolen, and another $130 billion was wasted.

        So Trump massively mishandles classified documents, and you think that’s ok.

        Trump lies about losing the election, and you think that’s ok.

        Trump praises Bill Clinton, and that’s okay too.

        Trump is convicted of raping a woman in civil court, and that’s okay, as well as Trump bragging he can grab gals by their hoohaws… that’s ok too.

        Trump runs multiple businesses into bankruptcy, and that’s okay too.

        When will you cultists realize we have better, more electable options? Trump lost to Biden, and he lost to Hillary in the popular vote. You really think the coward is going to do better this time?

  17. Goes to show how corrupt these judges are. They don’t apply tge letter of the law, they rule to get the outcome that they personally prefer. They call it “judicial activism” and “loose constructionism” these are real terms look it up. It’s a rigged system.

    • Judges are not supposed to practice law from the bench. They secure and defend the US Constitution from communists, monarchs, other foreigners from meddling with citizens rights like the right to present himself as a presidential candidate, they apply correct law to the issues in cases, they make sure court practice rules are followed to a “t”. They make sure the original US Criminal is applied to help preserve the republic. That is all they do. They suspend practice of law. Any practice if law by a judge is inappropriate.

  18. Get set for this to happen elsewhere, including swing states, for the general election. As soon as he is convicted, and right or wrong he will be convicted, several states are poised to remove him from the ballot. Of course this will all take place AFTER he secures the nomination. Anyone here feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the ball that Lucy is holding yet?

    • Both sides of the ball are morons, it’s 4th down and 90, there’s one second on the overtime clock, the score is tied at 0, and the fans are infuriated and ready to stampede the field and kill both sides.
      Rather than argue about the play to be called, shouldn’t you have gotten into your car and cleared the parking lot by now?
      Hell, it should be clear that everybody in the stadium is going to get called for insurrection after the police finally regain order……….IF they ever regain order………

  20. Those who unleash the whirlwind will be the first to fall. This precedent is so unspeakable. Trump has not yet been convicted of anything. It goes along with criminalizing free speech and disrespecting anyone who disagrees with you. America is speeding down the road to full dictatorship with the young in our schools being taught that full regulation of speech is good. The country of my youth has totally disappeared. You express yourself now at your peril.

  22. Typical. Democrats trying to run a democractic republic through the court system. What miserable souls. They all should be executed at midnight.

  23. What, don’t you realize that democracy dies if people are allowed to vote for their preferred candidate?
    Don’t you plebs understand that for democracy to work, sometimes you have to let the connected financiers running our banking institutions and media conglomerates decide who you are allowed to consider for leadership? Sometimes saving democracy means taking choices away, what is so difficult about that?

  24. Trump on January 6, 2021 incited the mob to march down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol. He said, “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

    The crowd then disrupted the joint session of Congress for the certification of the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States. They assaulted police officers.

    That is insurrection against the United States of America, and that means that Trump, who took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, is not eligible to hold office in the US, according to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

    Facts. Deal with it.

      • Pipe, interestingly the office of President is ommited from section 3 of the Amendment. ( so why invoke it against T?)
        Beyond that, an insurrection usually involves ARMED rebels.
        Original intent is appropriate here as always since it was devised to exclude Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis from ever holding office. Not DJT.
        T is a butthead but not an insurrectionist.

        • You seem to think the January 6 insurrectionists were not armed. That is difficult to understand, because I have seen multiple videos of the rioters deploying large canisters of bear spray against Capitol police officers.

          So I suggest that you conduct an experiment. Recruit a friend. Equip that friend with a canister of bear spray. Have that friend deploy the entire canister of bear spray into your face from a range of two or three feet. This will be a good reenactment of the attacks of the January 6 mob against multiple Capitol police officers.

          If you survive this experiment (and, fair warning, you may not survive), let us know whether you think the friend using the bear spray was armed or not.

    • That is NOT insurrection.
      The only insurrection occurring is stopping a candidate from running for election. Those Colorado Judges should be tried for insurrection.

    • You should actually READ the 14th Amendment.

      Any reasonable person knows better re ‘insurrection,’ as well. It is our duty to overthrow a corrupt government. That’s also in our founding documents.

    • Fact: Trump has not been convicted, or even formally charged in any insurrection.

      Fact: Trump is not the first, nor the last, to engage in this kind of language. In fact, the left has made a habit of it, and the storming of various capitals. Most recently, the Hamas mob stormed the capital, repeatedly egged on by members of the squad.

      Fact: Trump has not been convicted of a thing. Not even formally charged.

      Fact: You are wildly misinterpreting a part of the Constitution already under debate for its meaning.

      Fact: Your ignorance, willfully or accidentally, of our system has no bearing on reality.

      Facts: Deal with them.

      • M.A., maybe it is you who should learn the facts. Trump was not convicted, but the language of the US Constitution does not require a conviction, only that he engage in a insurrection or rebellion.

        Therefore, he’s not eligible to run. And that’s a good thing. Trump is a loser, who never, ever won the popular vote (only the electoral vote, once). It is a fair bet he will lose again because of all his irrational behavior and bad conduct. As just one example, ask any military member what would have happened to them if they improperly handled classified information. Why do you not hold Trump to the same standard?

        • What is the standard for determining that someone has engaged in insurrection? Due process is still a thing in this country, although it is slowly being dismantled; the justification being that the other side is a “threat to democracy” so they must be stopped by any means necessary.

          And since we’re applying consistent standards for mishandling classified information, let’s take a ride in Biden’s corvette from his Wilmington garage to the Penn Biden Center.

        • Quasi clever. I give you points for a new and vaguely interesting way to be dense.

          For your fever dream to be even remotely valid, there would have had to have been a recognized insurrection (there wasn’t) and irrefutable proof Trump lead it (again, doesn’t exist).

          More to the point of your idiotic claim, to press it as stated requires suspension of Trump civil rights. And multiple parts of the Constitution.

          As to your insane attempt to shove several other things into your lack of a point…they don’t even merit a good fart in response.

          Why not even fart in your general direction? You have zero idea what you’re talking about.

          • M. A. Its really too bad you can’t comprehend simple language. Let me help you out a wee bit. Amendment 14 reads, in part, “…have engaged in insurrection or rebellion…” The language does not require a trial. Nor does it require that Trump have led the effort. Here’s how rebellion is defined:

            “…an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler.”

            Notice how you ignored the word rebellion in your little screed?

            Trump did not like the results of the election. He gave a speech telling his mob to go fight… at the capitol. The mob did. They hurt cops, and they caused property damage- and they disrupted Congress- in the act of certifying the election.

            Trump, on Jan 6, right before his mob attacked the capitol: “And we fight. We fight like hell And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

            Sorry you don’t like the fact that the US Constitution excludes cowards and liars like Trump from office when they engage in insurrection or rebellion, but that’s the way it is. The criminal acts his mob engaged in that day have landed a whole bunch of them in prison- often with guilty pleas.

            Maybe the difference between us is I am an old school Republican, where we once had intelligent, polite, and civilized guys like Ronald Reagan to look up to and emulate- not trailer trash like Trump.

          • M, your argument is laughable and insulting on its face, and only further demonstrates the emotion-based ‘thinking’ of a typical radical leftist extremist such as yourself.

            OK, by your ‘logic’ I declare that China Joe Potatohead’s willful dereliction of duty regarding the ongoing invasion of our southern border by illegal aliens constitutes “insurrection” against the United States. So let’s start removing HIM from the ballots, yes?

            What’s good for the orange goose is good for the treasonous Chinese-paid gander.

        • Why bother asking about military members? Biden & Hillary improperly handled classified documents that they NEVER had a right to have. I guess we should make sure they’re not on any ballots, either, according to your line of thinking.

          • Manda, So you’re asserting the President is not entitled to have classified documents? Sorry kiddo, that’s not how it works. As far as Biden mishandling documents (stored in his garage) that warrants his removal. Both Biden and Trump have done this, both are unfit for this reason- and many more. Jefferson, above, laments the situation at the border. This too is a violation of the US Constitution- Art IV), and Biden should be impeached for allowing this invasion- which the constitution requires that he protect us against.

        • Accusation is as good as conviction in any respectable Third World dictatorship. If you say it’s true then it must be true. If the President of the United States can be punished for insurrection without ever being convicted then we should just dismantle our entire criminal justice system and rely on the good word of our citizens in matters of crime and punishment. Of course that’s NOT what the Constitution demands but since you also object to the Electoral College system that was set up to give less populated states more of an equal say with heavily populated states maybe we should trash that also and return to a state of nature where the strong rule and the weak obey. FYI…the answer to your last question can be found in federal law so maybe that needs to go too.

        • So so so many words to say nothing, be factually wrong, and make yourself look worse than “Frank”.

          I’ve seen toddlers in Freddy throwing tantrums that make more sense.

        • Some people just don’t get the whole “due process” concept.

          They are not nearly as concerning as the single letter dolts who just don’t care about it.

        • “……..Maybe the difference between us is I am an old school Republican, where we once had intelligent, polite, and civilized guys like Ronald Reagan to look up to and emulate- not trailer trash like Trump………”
          Ronald Reagan is long dead, so are his times, the old schools torn down, and the polite discussion is long over. You aren’t going to bring any of it back any time soon, either. Look around; civil war has been in open discussion for years, and Eurasia is currently on fire. Talk doesn’t work, and neither do elections.
          You and yours have contorted yourselves for the past several years either trying to get rid of Trump or emasculating his administration. You failed. He’s even more popular than in 2016.
          You’re out of tricks, and if you try pulling more rabbits out of your hat, they will only confirm that your magic sucks.

        • President Trump is not irrational and does not have “bad conduct”. For instance he is a teetotaler and has built reputable, law abiding companies. His detractors have done none of these things and are unaccomplished by and large often tooting their own horns.

        • Are you nutz? Trump was impeached and acquitted on the charge of insurrection. Therefore, did not engage in insurrection. Got it? The MarLogo search warrant was a general warrant, bigly illegal. The Colorado supreme court cannot rule on the 14th amendment, they may also not sit in judgment of anything done by a sitting President . Trump has the right to be on that ballot and those judges and the others are depriving him of his rights. Read up on 18 u.s. code 241, 242, Depravation of rights Under Color of Law. Very clear, very brutal.

  28. He was charged with insurrection by the House and acquitted by the Senate in 2021. Now a court comes along almost three years later and says “No, he’s guilty. That whole trial in the Senate didn’t count. He’s off the ballot.”

    They keep ignoring checks and balances everywhere. They hate Trump so much they’ll destroy the entire system to try to stop him.

  29. I sincerely hope that if the Colorado court has overreached or failed to adequately rationalize their decision, the Supremes will correct things.

    That said: Elections are not decided by loyalists and those most committed; they are decided by marginal voters. Trump is running with significant handicaps. He is a high-risk candidate. It simply will be harder for him to win for many reasons. And for many marginal voters, his actions that spawned multiple criminal indictments and civil actions are going to matter in deciding how to vote.

    Are conservatism and conservative principles best served by nominating such a candidate? Not in my view. If Trump is nominated and loses, the Left will bury the Republican Party and kill the country established two hundred years ago plus in Philadelphia. That result is so adverse that I cannot support the high-risk, seventy-seven year old former reality television star.

    Better, more electable conservative candidates exist. I ask of Trump supporters: Do you seriously believe that Donald Trump is the ONLY candidate the can “save” the nation? Frankly, that seems irrational to me.

    Donald Trump has been treated unfairly but that does not transform him into the best candidate for President. Time to end the madness.

    • JMARK: Quote of the day: “Better, more electable conservative candidates exist. I ask of Trump supporters: Do you seriously believe that Donald Trump is the ONLY candidate the can “save” the nation? Frankly, that seems irrational to me.”

      Well done. Kuddos.

    • Yes, let’s reward the Democrats for spewing countless accusations that never went anywhere against Trump to try and turn him into a toxic candidate by falling for their dishonest tactics. We’ll teach them that unproven accusation is all you need to eliminate your strongest, or any, opponent. Brilliant thinking! You certainly thought this through. Definitely, we should all dump Trump for some middle-of-the-road “conservative” who looks less threatening to the status quo. Maybe pre-vet our perfect candidate with the Democrats to verify that he…or she…meets with their approval to head off another round of character destroying false accusations. Love him or hate him Trump had this country better off than any Democrat or Republican in recent history. I’m sure that it’ll be easy to find a candidate that the Democrats will accept.

    • I think you left out one major factor.
      The left wont allow a different GOP candidate.
      After all the painstaking work they have been doing 24-7 to decimate the one choice they fear the most they are not about to let a different horse in the race without the time necessary to trash another horse.
      The left absolutely refuses to give up the power they deserve all
      in the name of “saving Democracy”.

    • The problem with the second part of your thesis is straightforward.

      None of the challengers to Trump have been successful in putting forward an alternative the right of the aisle has embraced. They are too busy acting like monkeys in the zoo, screeching and throwing poop at each other.

      Trump, despite his many character flaws, has a track record to run on. More good than bad. His challengers have done a crap job to date explaining why they are the better choice.

      • Trump isn’t the nominee yet. I agree that Ron and Nikki need to do better. Where we fundamentally differ is that I view Trump as so deeply flawed that he can never win and should never win. Be honest: Trump is a seventy-seven year old mess, a second Trump term would be chaos and nothing positive would get done. Trump has no new ideas. Time to move on.

    • “…….I ask of Trump supporters: Do you seriously believe that Donald Trump is the ONLY candidate the can “save” the nation?………”
      Nobody can save the nation, but Trump is finally drawing the line in the sand. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen soon, and it’s long, long overdue.
      Good luck.

  30. Assumptions:
    1. Assume the US Supremes agree with the Colorado Supremes and Trump is removed from the ballot.
    2. Then assume that Trump is removed from the ballot in several states.
    3. Let’s assume that former President Trump is tried for inciting an “insurrection” and he is found not guilty before the 2024 election.
    4. Now what do the above states do? If Trump is still removed from the ballot because “there isn’t time to reprint the ballots”, then are those states’ elections valid?
    5. Will the US Congress certify the election?

    Methinks we are in the Soviet Union where elections were “democratic” and you could vote for any person. Trouble is–there was only one person on the ballot.

      • Fact:

        Trump has not been temporarily removed from the primary ballot. Trump was determined to not be eligible to be on the primary ballot.

      • Masked Avenger, I agree that Trump has been removed from the primary ballot only. By removing a candidate from the primary ballot, that candidate is essentially removed from the general election ballot as well.

        • Not necessarily. Primary elections are different than general.

          But it’s an easy supposition they are trying to this to see what they can get away with.

  31. Everyone needs to take a deep breath and reread the article.

    Trump has temporarily been removed from the PRIMARY ballot. Not the general election.
    While it may be a dry run to see if they can, nothing of irreparable consequence has happened yet.

  32. Even the judges know this is BS.
    They built a stay into their decision. If Trump appeals to SCOTUS Bedford January 4 th, the devising is automatically stayed until the SCOTUS rules.
    .
    The ballots get printed on the 5th.
    .
    Unless Trump decides to ignore this ruling, it’s meaningless. Nothing but lawfare to get the leftists all excited.

  33. As much as I dislike Trump and feel like he is a real danger to this country, this is a horrible decision by the Colorado Supreme Court. I have no doubt it will rightly be overturned by SCOTUS. I believe that Trump was already going to win the general election. This decision should all but guarantee that outcome. Idiots.

    • And the cynical side of me wonders if this is not exactly the deep state’s plan, to engineer Trump’s election, just so that he can preside over (and be blamed for) the impending financial and monetary collapse of the USA.

      Do any of you notice how few people nowadays refer to our country properly, as “the US” or “the USA”, instead of the arrogant word “America”? It is just another of those creeping Britishisms that are being artificially inserted into our language, and like most of them, I find it distasteful.

      • Once upon a long time ago, it was appropriate to refer to us as “these United States”.

        The more the Wilsonites and the Rooseveltites pushed us into central government control, a sustained effort was made to drop the proper term. Along with the concept of us as a “democracy”.

      • You make some good points. I also don’t like using the word “America.” That encompasses two entire continents. There’s a difference between US citizens and Americans.

        • Yes, exactly, Manda. Mexicans and Canadians and Peruvians and Colombians are all “Americans” as well, and consider themselves to be so.

          The Spanish language has a clear and unambiguous word for those of us from the USA: “estadounidenses” (literally, “united statesians”). I don’t why we English speakers have never managed to come up with an analogous word.

      • The cynical side of me says the progressives are trying to seize power via exhaustion.

        Throw enough crap at the wall, eventually people get bored and ignore it.

        They they move.

        It has worked so far in the culture wars.

        • “……Throw enough crap at the wall, eventually people get bored and ignore it……..”
          Looks to me like that stupidity is failing miserably. They’ve tried everything since 2016, and today Trump leads all polls by double digits.
          Looks to me like people have had enough of the manipulators. I know I have. I’m voting for Trump just so maybe a few more mentally ill morons end up in tents on the sidewalks where they don’t belong.

    • A danger to this country?
      Have you been paying attention these last three years?
      The list of damages Biden and the democrats ( along with the traitors in the gop ) have brought to this country is staggering.
      We are in the middle of a color revolution similar to what the IC did in Ukraine that installed Zelenskyy.
      How is that turning out?

  36. So now instead of innocent until proven guilty we have guilty until proven innocent albeit the left seem to not care less about ‘proof’ of anything nor facts. Trump has never been convicted of insurrection. I am sure someone above said that already but I ran out of time to read all the comments.

  37. What happened to due process? Trump is being sentenced without a conviction or even a trial.

    And they accused Trump of threatening democracy. There goes that argument.

  39. Because Left wing judges should preselect for conservatives nationwide who their nominee choice “should” be. Yeah, that makes all the cents on the globe. How giddy are the Dems drunk on wanna be powers they give themselves under the Baal worshipped full moon.

  40. Red state IG’s need to do the same with Biden. There’s plenty of evidence of real corruption and treason.
    Nothing he has been convicted of but according to democrats that’s a non issue.

  41. I just heard Alaska is trying to remove Trump from the election can someone confirm this, before the civil war.

  42. this should not be a left or right issue. if a person can be excluded from a ballot because 4 judges have an opinion then it is the end of democracy and that same standard can be used against anyone. elm’s stated goal is to tear down the united states and is supported by many politicians at all levels. in my opinion and I suspect many judges opinions. then those politicians should also be excluded from ballots ? or if one candidate starts a rumor camopaign that is not true like, say, Russian collusion to overthrow the us, then based on that lie, they can just puck and choose who we vote for ??

    • Right on Kenny. The lefts stupid plan is to start a civil war. Personally I think they should re think what they are thinking. I am absolutely positive they have underestimated the power of the American people.

  43. It’s interesting that in a Blue state like Colorado the entrenched liberals feel that they need to keep Trump off the ballot by any means necessary. Maybe the “success” of Bidenomics is so overwhelming that his supporters fear a Trump landslide in even the Blue states. Or, maybe, it’s just their irrational hatred that drives them. Democrats and assorted liberals have never displayed high intelligence or the ability for rational thinking…their emotions completely drive them.

  48. Curiousity…
    Look at the background of the justices that voted for and against.
    The four that ruled to block are all ivy league. The three that dissented are Univ. Of Colorado grads.

    I’m not surprised.

  49. It’s a failing of mine. Even at my advanced ago I keep expecting people will learn from past mistakes.

    Every. Single. Damn. Time. the left tries to pull a fast one on our system it turns around and blows up in their faces.

    Never, ever, in life or politics, attempt to take a power for yourself you don’t want used on yourself.

  50. Apparently Colorado believes that the only way to prevent Trump from “destroying democracy” is for them to destroy democracy first.

  52. I genuinely wonder how many of the progressive “legal geniuses” posting would order Trumps summary education if they could.

    Would they admit it? Not here. Only a few are that special kind of stupid. But in their greasy hearts…

  53. What’s probably really going on in Colorado…

    -fishing expedition to see what they can get away with.

    -distract from Grandpa Bloodstains growing list of disasters.

    -fundraising.

    -virtue signaling.

    -typical progressive fever dreams.

  54. The “Law and Order” party snowflakes all in a tither because the Colorado Supreme Court Justices can read the Constitution. I know so many of the people on this site can only read the 2nd Amendment. There are 7 Articles and 27 Amendments! Try getting an education!

    • Constitutionally illiterate progressives telling others to get an education?

      I’ll be laughing for days over this one.

    • Do you actually read what you post?
      By definition “law & order” folks are well acquainted with the statutes, rules and the law of the land, as they are in support of their enforcement and understand that they make for a more harmonious society.
      Colorado’s supreme court justices, may be able to read, but I question their reading comprehension and inability to leave their bias at the door. That is really a very bad combination for a judge. They are electioneering based on wishful thinking and a flawed premise.
      I always wonder what would happen if let’s say all those border state courts decided to keep Biden off their ballots, since he has violated his oath of office and allowed millions of illegals to over-run those states? Can you imagine the indignation and screaming of “destroying our democracy”???
      Congrats on your ability to count btw!

  55. The Colorado Supreme Court has a long and unfaltering history of being overturned and chastised by SCOTUS.

  56. I wondered why Alaska keeps showing up as one of the states that has a lawsuit pending to keep Trump off the ballot. It appears this lawsuit was brought by a Moron named JOHN ANTHONY CASTRO. It seems this IDIOT has filed 27 federal lawsuits across the country, challenging Trump’s eligibility to run under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many of these lawsuits have already been dismissed by the various states involved. Normally when an Idiot appears that is from Alaska, I tend to go easy on them because even though they are an Idiot, they are OUR (Alaska’s) Idiot. But this moron if from Texas and therefore does not qualify for a such a pass. My understanding is that this Idiot from Texas is running for President. It takes all kinds.

  57. No disrespect to the author intended, but sometimes I enjoy reading all the comments more than the actual article!

  58. Just cutting through the cream and saying the truth. Boomers won’t do anything, ever. They hate the gubmunt’ but get silent as soon as their social security check gets threatened. 150,000,000 illegal aliens living in the country their forefathers fought for, and they shut up once their QVC money gets threatened.

    Boomers are scum and hate their own grandchildren. If you’re a boomer reading this, you’re a coward and I hope your HELOC runs out before you expire.

  60. What’s really telling here are two things.

    1-the left is absolutely terrified of letting the people pick their own leader.

    2-the left’s blatant disregard for the Constitution (not to mention understanding of it) is out there in the open.

    • Ginny, not true. A man has requested that several states kick Trump off their ballots and Alaska received his demand but I see nothing coming of it. Yet. – sd

  64. If Trump is so evil, so patently a threat to civilization he must be stopped at any cost,

    What will the left do next? This kind of MSNBC psychosis has already lead to one mass shooting.

    • Ordinarily I ignore you.

      But this level of stupidity needs to be addressed. I have no illusion this will penetrate your faux brain, but I’m bored so I’m gonna. Mostly because your comment is equally parts insanely stupid and recklessly dangerous.

      SD, please let this stand. This “poster’s” commentary needs to be dealt with. Harshly.

      Stopped at any cost?
      Are you willing to see Trump killed?
      His family?
      His voters?
      Anyone and everyone who ever knew him?
      Declare red states who go Trump non citizens?
      Get the Concentration Camps going?
      Brand us with red MAGA brands on our forearms?
      Purge us from every affect of society?

      What about the countries like Canada who have segments of their population embracing MAGA? Gonna invade them?

      Yes, I know it’s not your words, but it’s what you endorse. You’re just too cowardly to admit it or act in it yourself. Your hope is someone will do your fever dream for you.

      Congratulations Geronimo. And yes, I am deliberately calling you a “native” name specifically to make a point. You have just endorsed doing to a large segment of America what you say was done to your people.

      It’s OK when your side does it? Are we the equivalent of MAGA Jews in your eyes? Your words writ large imply that strongly.

      In some ways worse, you show a different pathetic lack of faith in the institutions of the nation, if not its people.

      You say via implication the military would stand for a Hitler wannabe. SCOTUS would tolerate it. Congress would tolerate it. All 50 states would tolerate it. That is factually and realistically impossible.

      Lead the charge, tough guy. Not from your recliner. With a weapon stating your intent. Out in front.

      I’ve unfortunately seen enough of you to know if SD let’s this stand you will respond (you can’t not) with snark, 4th grade insults, and an endless barrage of whataboutisms and conflations which would make a rational person weep. Knock yourself out. You can even call me the 21 racial slurs of your choosing.

      I won’t read them.

      But you won’t do the one thing you desperately need to do. Look inside yourself. Trump is nowhere as evil as you may well be.

  66. A this late date there is this thing on your shoulders called a head. Inside your head is this thing called a brain. It’s yours to use. Please feel free to use it if it is not addled.

  67. TMA: To whom exactly are you flailing about? With aspersions to Geronimo and the heavily laden in Alaska word “native” I can’t make out wart you are trying to put down I admire your simulated vehemence but you make no sense a tall. Thanks for trying.

  68. Support! H.R.6885 – To amend title 3, United States Code, to include under the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that the vote of an elector of a State shall not be counted if, with respect to the election for President, the State did not include on the ballot in the State a candidate for President who was nominated by a major political party, and for other purposes. #VoterRights #DueProcess #Constititionality @RepClayHiggins #Congress @GOPoversight @dreamgbutterfly🦋⚖️🏹
    https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6885/titles?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Electoral+count%22%7D

  69. Support! H.R.6885 – To amend title 3, United States Code, to include under the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that the vote of an elector of a State shall not be counted if, with respect to the election for President, the State did not include on the ballot in the State a candidate for President who was nominated by a major political party, and for other purposes. #VoterRights #DueProcess #Constititionality @RepClayHiggins #Congress @GOPoversight @dreamgbutterfly🦋⚖️🏹
    ‘https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6885/titles?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Electoral+count%22%7D

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