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12/28
Donald Trump has issues in the state of Colorado.
On Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the likely Republican presidential nominee is ineligible for office because of the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban." In a 4-3 ruling, the state court found that the former POTUS "engaged in" an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. Further, the court said Trump's speech to his supporters that day is "not protected by the First Amendment" due to his "inciting the crowd."
After the ruling, Trump -- who's said he will appeal to the United States Supreme Court -- took to social media to call it a "sad day in America." Amid a fundraising plea, he added, "What a shame for our country!!!"
While Trump and nearly all Republicans are blaming Democrats for the ban, the truth is actually vastly different. In September, a group of Republican and no-party-affiliation voters filed the lawsuit to block the former president from the 2024 Republican primary ballot in Colorado.
The former POTUS's luck turned on Dec. 27 when Colorado's Republican party filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, which led Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to announce that she'll include Trump on the primary ballot on the Jan. 5 certification deadline, Fox News reported – unless the U.S. Supreme Court either declines to take up the case or affirms the lower court's ruling.
Then on Dec. 28, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows -- after a bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed a challenge against Trump's eligibility for office also based on the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban" -- announced a decision to remove the former president from the state's 2024 ballot.
"I do not reach this conclusion lightly," she wrote of her decision. "Democracy is sacred … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection."
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