Former President Donald Trump said he’s “not an insurrectionist” and pointed a finger at President Joe Biden on Thursday, following the recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling that could wipe his name from the state’s presidential primary ballot next year.
During a rally Tuesday in Waterloo, Iowa, Trump avoided any mention of that day’s shocking ruling. Instead, he issued a response via Truth Social two days later.
“I’m not an Insurrectionist (‘PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY’),” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “Crooked Joe Biden is!!!”
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump is disqualified from being president because of a clause in the 14th Amendment that bars from state or federal office anyone who took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, or provided “aid or comfort to [its] enemies.”
Because of this clause, the court ruled, Trump is ineligible to appear on the 2024 Republican primary ballot in Colorado.
The ruling cited Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a reaction shortly after the ruling was announced on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign described it as a “completely flawed” and “undemocratic” decision.
“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement.
Cheung said the campaign intends to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that it has “full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits.”
Trump’s fellow Republicans responded quickly, with many of his 2024 primary rivals coming forward to support him.
“The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
“I don’t think a court should exclude somebody from running for president without there being a trial and evidence that’s accepted by a jury that they did participate in insurrection,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie argued.
Meanwhile, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he plans to introduce legislation that would prevent state politicians and state entities, such as the Colorado Supreme Court, from “disqualifying presidential candidates from the ballot on Constitutional matters that should be decided by only the Supreme Court.”
“Regardless of whether you support or oppose former President Donald Trump, it is outrageous to see left-wing activists make a mockery of our political system by scheming with partisan state officials and pressuring judges to remove him from the ballot,” Tillis said.
