Under the confident belief that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court will rule in his favor, former President Donald Trump is challenging decisions in Colorado and Maine to remove his name from primary ballots across the nation, according to legal analysts.
As reported by Raw Story on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, the Colorado Supreme Court recently prohibited Trump’s inclusion on the state’s GOP primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment’s “Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause.” This ruling cited Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results as grounds for disqualification. Subsequently, Maine’s Secretary of State also omitted Trump from their primary ballot.
Trump swiftly appealed both decisions, denouncing the moves as “pathetic gambits to rig the election,” while his campaign anticipates these appeals to reach the Supreme Court.
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Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean remarked, “Trump’s in trouble wherever this is raised and addressed,” aligning the Maine decision with Colorado’s.
However, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a rival for the 2024 nomination, criticized the ballot bans, suggesting that allowing Trump to campaign and lose at the polls is the sole way to politically defeat him.
Amidst this controversy, former Pence Homeland Security Advisor Olivia Troye noted that if Trump remains barred, the Colorado GOP intends to withdraw from its primary and instead hold a caucus, showcasing unwavering party support for Trump.
Despite setbacks in lower state courts, Trump’s legal team remains optimistic, banking on backing from the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. They aim to depict themselves as unfairly targeted and expect support based on the court’s previous pro-Trump election rulings.
Though currently excluded from Colorado and Maine ballots, Trump’s team foresees a prompt restoration of ballot access, counting on the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to intervene once more, as they have historically done in pro-Trump election decisions across the federal judiciary.
