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WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court appeared poised on Thursday (Feb 8) to toss out a state court ruling that would bar Donald Trump from running for president again.
During two hours of high-stakes arguments, both conservative and liberal members of the nation’s highest court expressed concern about having individual states decide which candidates can be on the presidential ballot this November.
It is the most consequential election law case to reach the court since it halted the Florida vote recount in 2000 with Republican George W. Bush narrowly leading Democrat Al Gore.
The question before the nine justices is whether Trump is ineligible to appear on the Republican presidential primary ballot in Colorado because he engaged in an insurrection – the Jan 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Colorado’s Supreme Court, citing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ruled in December that Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, should be kicked off the ballot because of his role in the Jan 6 attack on Congress.
Jonathan Mitchell, a former solicitor general of Texas representing Trump, denied that the events of Jan 6 constituted an insurrection and said only Congress can disqualify a candidate.
“The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is wrong and should be reversed,” Mitchell said, adding that it would “take away the votes of potentially tens of millions of Americans.”
Jason Murry, representing Colorado voters who brought the case, countered that the 14th Amendment clearly bars anyone from holding public office if they engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” after once pledging to support and defend the Constitution.
The 77-year-old Trump, speaking to reporters in Florida, said he hoped for a ruling in his favour.
Pointing out his dominance in Republican opinion polls, he said: “Can you take the person that’s leading everywhere and say, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna let you run?’ You know, I think that’s pretty tough to do, but I’m leaving it up to the Supreme Court.”
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