Colorado’s highest court has ruled Donald Trump is disqualified from holding office and removed him from the state’s 2024 ballot due to his incitement of the Jan 6 insurrection.
It is the first time a state court has found the Republican frontrunner should be barred from the ballot because of a US constitutional provision disqualifying people from federal office if they have engaged in “insurrection”.
The decision from the Colorado Supreme Court, whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors, marks the first time in history that this particular clause of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
It is likely to set up a showdown in the US Supreme Court which will have to decide whether Mr Trump can remain in the race.
“A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision.
The court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Mr Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.
But the court also said the former president could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the provision was intended to cover the presidency.
The ruling will not take effect until Jan 4, to allow for appeals.
‘Completely flawed decision’
Mr Trump’s lawyers had promised to appeal any disqualification immediately to the US Supreme Court, which has the final say about constitutional matters.
Steven Cheung, Mr Trump’s spokesman, accused the court of ruling against Mr Trump to “interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden”.
He said: “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.
“We have full confidence that the US Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favour and finally put an end to these un-American lawsuits.”
This is a breaking news story – more to follow
