Trump celebrates ‘big win’ after Supreme Court hands him victory in ballot eligibility case

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Former president Donald Trump celebrated a personal victory on Monday morning after the Supreme Court overturned Colorado’s decision to remove him from its presidential primary ballot under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.

For months, Mr Trump had been fighting Colorado, as well as other states, for invoking the novel “insurrection clause” to disqualify him from the state’s primary.

The former president was accused of aiding an insurrection through his rhetoric on January 6, 2021.

But the Supreme Court intervened, saying states do not have the power to remove presidential primary candidates from their ballots under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.

Mr Trump called the court’s unanimous decision a “big win for America” in a post on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s legal team, led by Harmeet K Dhillion the managing partner of the Dhillion Law Group, said that the victory “is not just for President Trump but for the integrity of our electoral system and the rights of voters across the country.

“The attempt to use the 14th Amendment in this manner was a dangerous overreach that, if left unchallenged, could have set a perilous precedent for future election,” Mr Dhillion said.

Voters in at least 16 states, including Colorado, had teamed up with organisations to try and remove Mr Trump from their ballots under the 14th Amendment.

Section Three prohibits those who have taken part in insurrections or aided enemies of the United States government from taking office. Petitioners claimed that by using allegedly inflammatory rhetoric on January 6, Mr Trump aided an insurrection – the Supreme Court declined to rule on the technical aspects of an insurrection or whether or not Mr Trump participated in one.

Mr Trump, who is currently the Republican frontrunner, is facing multiple challenges to his campaign as he seeks re-election. In addition to the 14th Amendment cases, the former president is facing four criminal trials – one of which accuses him of trying to overturn 2020 election results and his alleged involvement in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

The former president has asked the Supreme Court to also intervene in that case, claiming he should be absolved of charges because he had presidential immunity. The court agreed to hear the case in April and will make a decision in or before June.