The U.S. state of Colorado’s highest court removed former U.S. President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 election ballot, ruling that he cannot be considered as a candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” CNN reported on Dec. 19.
The 14th Amendment is from the Civil War era and says officials can’t run for office if they “engaged in insurrection,” a phrase used to describe Confederate leaders and soldiers, but has only been applied twice in the 20th century and does not mention the presidency.
Colorado is considered a blue state that Democratic Party candidates have won consistently in the 21st century. All seven judges serving on the Colorado Supreme Court received their appointment from Democratic Party state governors.
Trump in a second term would likely appoint loyalists in key roles in the military and intelligence community, allowing him to implement more isolationist policies in the face of ballooning national debt and domestic tensions, multiple U.S. officials told the press on Dec. 18.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press conference on Dec. 19 that the result of the 2024 U.S. presidential election can "very strongly" influence the course of Russia's war against Ukraine.
"If the policy of the next president – whoever he is – will be different toward Ukraine, colder or more inward-oriented, if there will be more focus on domestic policy... then I think these signals will greatly affect the course of the war in Ukraine," Zelensky said, during his two-hour press conference.
The Trump 2024 campaign vowed to contest the Colorado decision, saying it “will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.”
The Colorado state court decision will be placed on hold until January 4, pending an ultimate decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.
Martin Fornusek
