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Colorado’s Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling on Tuesday and said that former President Donald Trump was disqualified from appearing on the state’s ballots over his incitement of insurrection.
However, the court allowed time for the former president to file an appeal by staying the effect of its ruling until Jan. 4.
Objections to Trump’s presidential campaign are based on a provision found in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that says anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after making an oath of office would be barred from serving as president.
Trump’s attorneys have argued that he did not participate in inciting an insurrection and also that the provision did not apply to their client.
Stephen Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, released a statement criticizing the ruling.
“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” read the statement in part. “We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits.”
In November, Colorado District Court Judge Sarah Wallace ruled against the effort to ban him from ballot despite finding that he had indeed engaged in insurrection.
“The Court finds that Petitioners have established that Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 through incitement, and that the First Amendment does not protect Trump’s speech,” said Wallace in the 102-page decision.
“The Court holds there is scant direct evidence regarding whether the Presidency is one of the positions subject to disqualification,” she added.
A similar lawsuit failed in Michigan, but litigants said they would appeal there as well.
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