NOVEMBER 22, 2023
Then president, Donald Trump, speaks to supporters during a Keep America Great rally on February 20, 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by voters who want Trump removed from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by voters who want Donald Trump removed from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot.
A lower court judge has already agreed that Trump engaged in insurrection in encouraging the January 6 Capitol attack and seeking to overthrow the 2020 election result.
Trump is appealing the insurrection ruling and both appeals will be heard together, the Colorado Supreme Court has decided.
Why is the Colorado Supreme Court reviewing Trump’s eligibility for the 2024 ballot?
The court is addressing an appeal that challenges the lower court’s decision to keep Trump on the ballot despite finding him guilty of insurrection. This case presents a critical legal contradiction that the higher court needs to resolve.
What does the lower court’s ruling on insurrection imply for Trump’s position?
The lower court’s insurrection finding significantly undermines Trump’s position. Legal experts argue that such findings are seldom overturned on appeal, giving the plaintiffs a robust case against Trump’s eligibility.
How do legal experts view the implications of this case?
It could be a landmark case. Experts view it as a crucial test of legal principles. They argue that the Colorado Supreme Court has substantial grounds to disqualify Trump based on the lower court’s findings, despite Trump’s appeal against the insurrection ruling.
Speaking with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general, said the finding of the lower court will be difficult to overturn.
“”There’s a factual finding, which is that Trump committed insurrection,” Katyal said.
“On appeals, the factual findings get massive deference by the appeals court. It’s almost impossible to overturn a trial judge’s factual finding.”
He added that it was “the very worst decision Trump could get.”
Katyal was appointed acting solicitor general by President Barack Obama in 2010 and was previously described by CNN as a “liberal, Obama Admin Official”.
Katyal said that the ruling by District Judge Sarah B. Wallace on Friday may have kept Trump on the Colorado ballot for now but could cause great difficulty for him in the Colorado Supreme Court.
Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor with more than 30 years experience and frequent Trump critic, said on Wednesday that the Colorado Supreme Court should remove Trump from the ballot.
In a video post on X, formerly Twitter, Kirschner, now an MSNBC legal analyst, said that the lower court finding that Trump was an insurrectionist and also that he should stay on the ballot “made no damn sense”.
What has been Trump’s response to the legal challenge?
He’s not happy. Trump has strongly criticized the lawsuit, describing it as an attempt to disenfranchise voters. He praised the lower court’s decision to keep him on the ballot and disparaged the plaintiffs and their supporters, maintaining a combative stance against the legal proceedings.
While speaking to a crowd at a high school in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Saturday, he said that Democrats, their allies and the media are “having an absolute meltdown because last night, our campaign won a gigantic court victory in Colorado.”
He called the lawsuit “an outrageous attempt to disenfranchise millions of voters by getting us thrown off the ballot.”
And he called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the watchdog group that filed the case on behalf of a group of Republican and independent Colorado voters, a “bunch of losers.”
A spokesman for Mr. Trump, Steven Cheung, said in a statement after Judge Wallace’s ruling last week that it was “another nail in the coffin of the un-American ballot challenges.”
Is Trump’s popularity in Colorado a factor in this legal battle?
Yes, it is. Recent polls in Colorado show a tightening race, with Trump gaining on Biden. This shift in public opinion highlights the political significance of the legal battle over Trump’s ballot eligibility.
Biden beat Trump in Colorado by 55 percent to 41 percent in 2020, taking all nine electoral college votes. Trump’s popularity appears to be growing since. In an Emerson College poll conducted in early October, Biden led Trump by 42 percent to 38 percent, a margin of four points. That margin has tightened since an Emerson College poll in September gave Biden a ten-point lead at 46 percent to Trump’s 36 percent.
What are the next steps in this legal process?
The Colorado Supreme Court is expediting the case, with Trump’s legal team required to submit their brief soon, and oral arguments scheduled for December 6. The court’s decision could have a decisive impact on the political landscape ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Courtesy: Newsweek
