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US Presidential Elections 2024: Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to exit the GOP primary ballot in Colorado unless former US President Donald Trump is reinstated following the Supreme Court’s ruling that ousted former President Donald Trump from the ballot, Fox News reported.
The recent ruling by a court comprising justices appointed by Democratic governors signifies a historic moment, as it marks the first instance in history where Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been applied to disqualify a presidential candidate, as reported by AP.
The court’s ruling, grounded in the ‘insurrection clause’ of the 14th Amendment, pointed to Trump‘s involvement in the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. With a narrow 4-3 decision, the court specifically mandated the removal of Trump from the ballot.
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Ramaswamy further labelled the court’s decision as an “election interference tactic aimed at silencing political adversaries.”
“I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary unless Trump is also allowed to be on the state’s ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley to do the same immediately – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal manoeuvre, which will have disastrous consequences for our country,” Ramaswamy posted on X, calling out his fellow candidates in the GOP presidential primary.
“This is what an actual attack on democracy looks like in an un-American, unconstitutional, and unprecedented decision, a cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado. Having tried every trick in the book to eliminate President Trump from running in this election, the bipartisan Establishment is now deploying a new tactic to bar him from ever holding office again: the 14th Amendment,” his post read.
ANI reported citing The Hill that yet another prominent GOP presidential candidate, Chris Christie, has entered the discussion on the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, asserting that it is the voters, not the courts, who should determine whether Trump should be “prevented” from seeking re-election to the White House.
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“What I will say is I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being President of the United States, by any court,” Christie said, adding, “I think he should be prevented from being the President of the United States by the voters of this country.”
In a statement Tuesday, Christie said he doesn’t believe “it’s good” for the US if Trump is kept off the ballot by a court.
“I think it’s bad for the country if that happens,” Christie said, adding, “Now, the other reason I believe that is because, you know, he will have had to incite insurrection, be a part of an insurrection for him to be excluded. There’s been no trial of him on that”, The Hill reported.
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Meanwhile, CNN reported that the Colorado Supreme Court has excluded former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, citing his ineligibility as a presidential candidate due to the “insurrectionist ban” outlined in the 14th Amendment.
As per CNN, the ruling will be placed on hold until January 4, pending Trump’s appeal to the US Supreme Court, which could settle the matter for the nation.
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The majority wrote in its unsigned opinion, “President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection. Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that Vice President (Mike) Pence refuse to perform his constitutional duty and by calling Senators to persuade them to stop the counting of electoral votes. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection.”
“We conclude that the foregoing evidence, the great bulk of which was undisputed at trial, established that President Trump engaged in insurrection. President Trump’s direct and express efforts over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterised as an alleged fraud on the people of this country, were indisputably overt and voluntary,” the opinion added, as per CNN.
The court, in addition, rejected Trump’s free speech claims, writing: “President Trump’s speech on January 6 was not protected by the First Amendment.”
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The report further said that all seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors. “Six of the seven subsequently won statewide retention elections to stay on the bench. The seventh was only appointed in 2021 and hasn’t yet faced voters,” as per CNN.
(With inputs from ANI) o
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Published: 20 Dec 2023, 09:32 AM IST
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