Colorado Republican Party To Cancel Primary If Trump Kept Off Ballot

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The Colorado Republican Party said on Tuesday night that if former President Donald Trump was kept of the presidential primary ballot in the state in 2024, the party would cancel the primary altogether.

The statement from the Colorado GOP came after the Colorado Supreme Court removed Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot on Tuesday after ruling that he engaged in an insurrection with his actions on January 6, 2021.

“We will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand,” the party said in responding to the Court’s ruling.

The 4-3 ruling will be placed on hold pending appeal until January 4, the Court said in its ruling.

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the ruling said. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

The Trump campaign responded to the ruling by saying that they would “swiftly file an appeal,” calling it “a completely flawed decision” that was “deeply undemocratic.”

“We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,” a spokesperson for the campaign said.

The Court said that they had “little difficulty concluding that substantial evidence” existed that showed “a concerted and public use of force or threat of force by a group of people to hinder or prevent the U.S. government from taking the actions necessary to accomplish the peaceful transfer of power in this country.”

The Court said that because of this, “the events of January 6 constituted an insurrection.”

Heritage Foundation election law expert and former FEC commissioner Hans von Spakovsky responded to the ruling by calling it “nakedly partisan” and “anti-democratic”.

“First, Section 3 of the 14 Amendment applies only to individuals who were previously a ‘member of Congress,’ an ‘officer of the United States,’ or a state official. Individuals who are elected—such as the president and vice president—are not officers within the meaning of Section 3,” he said. “Second, no federal court has convicted Trump of engaging in ‘insurrection or rebellion.’ In fact, the Senate acquitted Trump of that charge in his second impeachment.”

“Third, some scholars assert Section 3 doesn’t even exist anymore as a constitutional matter after the Amnesty Acts of 1872 and 1898–a matter completely ignored by the court today,” he continued. “Fourth, prior court rulings have held that Section 3 is not self-executing and Congress has never passed any federal law providing for enforcement, meaning that courts such as the Colorado Supreme Court have no legal authority to enforce Section 3.”