The Colorado Supreme Court has just ruled Trump’s candidacy inadmissible because of his participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
This judgment has yet to be ratified by the Federal Supreme Court, which would be surprising, but it confirms what has been perfectly clear for a long time: Donald Trump should not become president again.
Whether the criterion is the text of the Constitution or the intention of the Founding Fathers, the conclusion is similar: by his actions, Donald Trump has disqualified himself.
Fourteenth Amendment
Colorado ruling invokes Section 3 of 14e amendment, adopted following the Civil War.
This clause prohibits access to any position of authority, federal or state, to any person who, after taking an oath to defend the Constitution, has participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States. The intention was to exclude those who had betrayed their oath by participating in the Southern insurrection, but also to discourage any future insurrection.
The Colorado Court recognized the evidence that Republican senators refused to see during the February 2021 impeachment trial: there was an insurrection on January 6, 2021; Donald Trump attended; he thus broke his oath and disqualified himself from the presidency.
The facts are clear
There was indeed an insurrection on January 6, 2021. This was recognized by the juries of the trials which led dozens of insurgents to prison.
Colorado judges also recognized that Donald Trump took part in these events. His apologists will claim that he was not found guilty in the criminal case, but the standard of proof is not the same as for a criminal case and the Court determined that the evidence — that which we saw in the TV on January 6 and those revealed by the special congressional commission — are more than sufficient.
It might be better to rely on the judgment of voters to disavow Trump, but the judges concluded, in all objectivity, that he is as ineligible for president in 2024 as if he had been born abroad or s He was under 35 years old.
Double disqualified
While it is clear that a literal reading of 14e amendment should disqualify Donald Trump, it is also clear that his candidacy would have been considered inadmissible by the founding fathers, for whom honor was an essential value for the exercise of any public office.
How can we recognize Trump as a man of honor, he who lies like he breathes, who mocks democratic norms, who makes a fascist speech, who collects criminal and civil accusations, and who has been accused of fifteen sexual assaults and held responsible for a rape by a judge and jury?
American democracy is in a very sorry state for such a man to still be a serious candidate for the presidency. The nine justices of the Supreme Court would be doing an immense service to the constitutional order by permanently closing the door to the White House, but it would be surprising if they put aside their partisan blinders and rely on the facts. We can always hope.
