U. S. Supreme Court declares Trump can remain on 2024 primary ballots

THE American Supreme Court yesterday unanimously reverses Colorado’s court decision to kick former US President, Donald Trump off primary ballot over January 6, 2021 riot in Capitol, Washington DC.

Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and is widely expected to face off for a second time against President Joe Biden in November.

The Supreme Court rejected an effort by Colorado to remove Trump’s name from the state’s Republican primary ballot, delivering the former president a major victory as he seeks his party’s nomination.

The justices on Monday unanimously reversed a December 19 decision by Colorado’s top court to kick Trump off the ballot under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which includes a section that prohibits individuals from holding public office if they have participated in an insurrection.

Trump’s critics have accused him of inciting and supporting the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won and Trump lost.

“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” the Trump, who is a frontrunner in the Republican presidential nomination race wrote on his T ruth Social platform after the US Supreme Court’s decision. The ruling ends efforts in Colorado, Illinois, Maine and elsewhere to kick Trump off the ballot because of his attempts to undo his loss in the 2020 election to Biden, whom he is likely to face again in November’s presidential election.

The ruling comes a day before Super T uesday, the day when the largest number of states holds their presidential primaries and caucuses.

The 14th Amendment bars people from holding US office, including the presidency, if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.

But the Supreme Court, which has a 6- 3 conservative majority, said on Monday that only Congress can enforce the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.

“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency,” the court said.

Trump also had been kicked off the ballot in Maine and Illinois based on the 14th Amendment, but those decisions were put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Colorado case.

In the Colorado case, Trump’s eligibility had been challenged in court by a group of six voters in the western state — four Republicans and two independents — who portrayed him as a threat to democracy and sought to hold him accountable for the Capitol riot.

That 2021 attack was led by supporters of the then- president, who sought to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory.