In a move that sent America’s collective political jaw skimming the carpet, the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 presidential ballot. The court invoked the Constitution’s Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the “no insurrectionists allowed” clause, a dusty bit of post-Civil War legal fine print that rarely gets invited to the party these days.
By a vote of 4 to 3, the court’s majority concluded that Trump’s involvement in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot counted as “engaged in insurrection.” This is a turn of phrase that generally conjures images of 19th-century generals on horseback yelling things into bugles, but now includes tweeting with malice aforethought. The decision reverses a lower court ruling that had found Trump did incite an insurrection but also concluded, with some legal yoga, that this did not necessarily mean he was disqualified from running again. Apparently in Colorado, inciting a rebellion is frowned upon, but only up to a point.
Trump, never one to graciously accept judicial inconvenience, has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the conservative majority may see things through a redder, rosier lens. His campaign promptly dismissed the entire ruling as “flawed” and “radical,” which is what they usually call decisions where he comes out on the losing end. His spokesperson warned that if allowed to stand, this “will mark a sad day for democracy” which is a bold statement coming from someone defending a man accused of trying to derail it with a bullhorn and a tweetstorm.
The court did have the courtesy to stay its ruling until January 4, giving Trump time to file an appeal and giving America time to locate popcorn. If the ruling holds, Trump would be barred from appearing on Colorado’s ballot for the GOP primary, scheduled March 5. So far, no other state has removed Trump using the 14th Amendment, though hear that sigh carried on the wind? It might be emanating from several secretaries of state peeking nervously at their own ballots.
At the core of the legal argument is the 14th Amendment’s third section, which bans anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office. It was originally crafted to keep Confederate officials from waltzing back into government jobs without so much as a how-do-you-do, but this week it found new purpose in the form of a man whose preferred method of rebellion is more “storm the Capitol in a red hat” than “secede from the Union.”
In another time, the idea of disqualifying a presidential candidate for insurrection would have prompted national disbelief or, at the very least, a Ken Burns documentary. In 2023, it’s a Tuesday.
This might be the only campaign in history where the road to the White House may require a pit stop at the Supreme Court gift shop.