A Democratic congressman and 2024 presidential candidate has denounced the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision this week to order former President Donald Trump removed from ballots in the state after it concluded he engaged in disqualifying “insurrectionist” activity.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling relies on an interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, known as the “disqualification clause,” which states that officials who have sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution who then engaged in an insurrection or rebellion are disqualified from holding office. The court ruled that President Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results—including speaking to crowds of supporters before the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and not doing enough, in their assessment, to dissuade demonstrators and rioters at the capitol that day—constitute disqualifying insurrectionist activity, even though President Trump has not been convicted of an underlying insurrection-related criminal offense.
