WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court docket appeared poised on Thursday (Feb 8) to toss out a state court ruling that would bar Donald Trump from running for president again.
Throughout two hours of high-stakes arguments, each conservative and liberal members of the nation’s highest court docket expressed concern about having particular person states determine which candidates could be on the presidential poll this November.
It’s the most consequential election legislation case to achieve the court docket because it halted the Florida vote recount in 2000 with Republican George W. Bush narrowly main Democrat Al Gore.
The query earlier than the 9 justices is whether or not Trump is ineligible to seem on the Republican presidential major poll in Colorado as a result of he engaged in an rebellion – the Jan 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Colorado’s Supreme Court docket, citing the 14th Modification to the Structure, dominated in December that Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, needs to be kicked off the poll due to his position within the Jan 6 assault on Congress.
Jonathan Mitchell, a former solicitor basic of Texas representing Trump, denied that the occasions of Jan 6 constituted an rebellion and stated solely Congress can disqualify a candidate.
“The Colorado Supreme Court docket’s choice is incorrect and needs to be reversed,” Mitchell stated, including that it will “take away the votes of doubtless tens of thousands and thousands of Individuals.”
Jason Murry, representing Colorado voters who introduced the case, countered that the 14th Modification clearly bars anybody from holding public workplace in the event that they engaged in “rebellion or rise up” after as soon as pledging to help and defend the Structure.
The 77-year-old Trump, chatting with reporters in Florida, stated he hoped for a ruling in his favour.
Declaring his dominance in Republican opinion polls, he stated: “Can you’re taking the individual that’s main all over the place and say, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna allow you to run?’ You already know, I believe that is fairly powerful to do, however I am leaving it as much as the Supreme Court docket.”
