FROM THE WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT. Donald Trump is ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and therefore cannot run for the White House. This, in a nutshell, is the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court which last night ruled with 4 votes in favor and three against that the name of the former president cannot appear on the ballots for the Republican primaries scheduled for March 5. The verdict remains pending until January 4 and will remain so if an appeal is lodged with the Federal Supreme Court. In this case, pending the ruling of the judges, Trump will be able to run in the primaries but the risk of disqualification will hang over his “head”.
The judges' decision is historic. It is the first time, in fact, that the Fourteenth Amendment has been applied in its Section Three. If other states were to imitate Colorado it would become impossible for Trump to secure the nomination.
The rule that the judges clung to dates back to 1868, when legislators decided to introduce a clause to prevent conspiracists and insurgents from having a public role. It was a reaction to the Civil War that ended three years ago.
In practice, the officials decided that, according to the events of January 6, Trump falls into the category of those who want to subvert the institutions of the republic.
The Colorado affair began a few months ago when six Republican voters and one independent invoked Section 3 of the 14th Amendment by promoting a lawsuit to exclude Trump from the primaries. District Judge Sarah B. Wallace ruled in November that the former president was involved in the insurrection but she could run because in her opinion Section 3 does not apply to those running for president. The Colorado High Court upheld most of Wallace's arguments but overturned the interpretation of Section 3, thus excluding Donald Trump from the vote.
Explaining the reasons for the sentence, the judges said they “did not reach the verdict lightly” and that they “were aware of the magnitude and weight of the questions that now arise”. However, the judges said they applied the law “without fear or without doing favors.”
Section 3 is subject to interpretation. It prevents those guilty of acts of insurrection from holding a public role but there is no mention of a ban on running for office.
Trump's staff has already brought forward a brief to the federal Supreme Court to put an end to “these un-American lawsuits.” Spokesman Steven Cheung called the ruling “completely wrong.”
Trump's Republican opponents also reacted. Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur, threatened to “withdraw from the Colorado primaries until Trump is reinstated.” And he invited his rivals to do the same. Chris Christie, the liveliest of the tycoon's antagonists, underlined: “I don't think Donald Trump should be excluded from the race to be US president by any court.”
According to Christie, the Colorado Court has essentially condemned Trump for inciting the January 6 riot without there having been a trial so far.
The Minnesota Supreme Court and a Michigan appeals court declined to exclude Trump from the primary ballots. Now, however, the Colorado case opens up unexplored scenarios that could completely change the dynamics of the 2024 presidential elections and the history of the United States.
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