The US Supreme Court was skeptical about whether former President Donald Trump can run in the presidential election next November, despite his alleged role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in which his supporters attempted to damage the electability of current President Joe Biden.
The nine judges had to answer one question:Trump’s name could appear on the Republican presidential ballot in the state of Colorado for his alleged role in the attack by his supporters during the storming of the Capitol? The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December, citing the 14th Amendment, that Trump, the heavy favorite for the Republican nomination in 2024, must be removed from the ballot for that reason.
This was decided by the court in Colorado Trump was not scheduled to appear on the ballot in the state’s March 5 Republican primary. In more than two hours of debates, both conservative and liberal justices questioned whether Trump can be barred from the presidency because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
That day, Trump gave a fiery speech to thousands of supporters in Washington before they headed to the Capitol. in an attempt to block the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory from Congress.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone from holding public office if they have participated in an “insurrection or rebellion.” after promising to defend Magna Carta. The amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, was intended to prevent supporters of the slaveholding Confederacy from being elected to Congress or holding federal office.
The amendment ratified in 1868 after the Civil War was intended to prevent supporters of the slaveholding Confederacy from being elected to Congress or hold federal office.
Conservative and liberal justices expressed concern that states alone had the power to take sweeping actions that would impact a nationwide presidential election.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts told Jason Murray, who represents four Republican electors and two independent electors seeking to keep Trump off the ballot in Colorado, that if Colorado’s decision is upheld, other states will begin their own disqualification proceedings for Democratic or Republican candidates become.
“And it will come down to only a handful of states deciding the presidential election. That’s a pretty disheartening consequence,” Roberts said.
“Some people argue that the consequences of what the Colorado Supreme Court did would be quite serious,” said conservative Justice Samuel Alito. “The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision could effectively resolve this issue for many other states, perhaps even all other states.”
Traditionally the Supreme Court of the United States has previously been hesitant to get involved in political issues, but this year she is forced to express her opinion. In addition to the Colorado case, the court could also accept an appeal by Trump of a lower court ruling that, as a former president, he enjoys no immunity from prosecution and can be charged with conspiring to change the outcome of the election. from 2020.
About twenty demonstrators, some with signs reading “Trump is a traitor” and “Trump out,” protested outside the courthouse. For his part, the former president, who spoke to journalists about today’s trial, He called the Supreme Court’s reasoning “a beautiful thing in many ways.”even as he complained about the case being brought in the first place.
“I hope that democracy remains in this country,” he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club. Much of today’s arguments focused on whether his supporters’ efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election should disqualify him from voting in Colorado.
With information from AFP and Reuters | dmr