The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former US President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is not eligible to return to the White House because of his role in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021. The court has ordered the exclusion of his name from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot. The 4-3 ruling came on a lawsuit that challenged Trump’s eligibility under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which deems former office-holders ineligible from running again if they have engaged in ‘insurrection or rebellion’ against the US despite having taken an oath to uphold the Constitution.

The verdict, which will inevitably be reviewed by the US Supreme Court, is not applicable outside the state. And Colorado is not a high-stakes state for Trump as he had lost by a big margin there in the 2020 presidential election. Nevertheless, the judgment can have a bearing on the decisions of courts on petitions seeking Trump’s disqualification in ‘more competitive’ states. It will also buttress the Democrats’ argument that the January 6, 2021, riot was an insurrection bid carried out at Trump’s behest.

The anarchic assault on the US Capitol had disgraced the much-vaunted American democracy. Trump allegedly resorted to brazen incitement to violence in a bid to prevent the US Congress from certifying the result of the 2020 election, which he had lost to Joe Biden. The Colorado court has rightly observed: ‘President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary.’ Even though opinion is divided over whether a lawsuit is a fair method for determining Trump’s eligibility, he undoubtedly deserves no leniency for riding roughshod over constitutional norms. While Trump is again playing the victim card, the Colorado judgment has the potential to queer his presidential pitch.
(Tribune, India)