Trump ballot disqualification bid gets sceptical US Supreme Court reception
- US Supreme Court weighed a Colorado decision to remove Donald Trump from state ballot
- The case carries high stakes not only for the former president, but also for the court justices
Donald Trump appeared to be headed for a big legal victory at the US Supreme Court as the justices on Thursday signalled their readiness to reject a judicial decision kicking the former president off the ballot in Colorado for taking part in an insurrection during the 2021 Capitol attack.
The nine justices heard about two hours of arguments in Trump’s appeal of a December 19 ruling by Colorado’s top court to disqualify him from the state’s Republican March 5 primary ballot under the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment after finding that he participated in an insurrection.
The ruling in the case promises major implications for the November 5 election. Trump, who did not attend the arguments, is the overwhelming front runner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars from holding public office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.
Justices – conservatives and liberals alike – expressed concern during the argument about states taking sweeping actions that could impact a presidential election nationwide.