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The Colorado Supreme Court kicking former President Donald Trump off the primary ballot has enraged his supporters, who argued the court was engaging in voter suppression.
On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision to bar Trump from the Republican presidential primary ballot. The Colorado justices found he was disqualified under a constitutional provision originally intended to keep Confederate officials from gaining power.
GOP Representative Lauren Boebert called the ruling "judicial activism" designed to suppress the votes. s of hundreds of thousands of people in Colorado. She expressed confidence the U.S. Supreme Court would remedy the "absolutely unacceptable" decision.
"We will fight this every step of the way!" Boebert wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Kari Lake, one of Trump's most ardent supporters, was also outraged at the ruling, which the Republican called "historic election interference." Lake has been fighting what she believes was election interference in her own gubernatorial election since losing the election in November 2022. Lake pressured the Supreme Court to overturn the decision to bar Trump from the ballot.
The lawsuit argued that Trump engaged in an insurrection surrounding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, an argument that courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected. Trump will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Colorado justices acknowledged that their decision could be overturned on appeal.
In a statement to Newsweek, Steven Cheung, Trump's spokesperson, called the ruling a "scheme" intended to help President Joe Biden win in 2024. He labeled it a "completely flawed" and undemocratic decision.
Some of Trump's supporters characterized the ruling as the beginning of the end of democracy and Republican Representative Byron Donalds called the ruling "blatant disenfranchisement."
GOP Representative Elise Stefanik posted on X that it was "unAmerican," warning that the decision would backfire. Trump quickly sent a fundraising email to his supporters about the decision, warning that the ruling would also be used against him in every other state.
Trump is leading Biden in polls, and while his legal troubles are serious, they've also helped catapult him to the top of the pack in the Republican primary. He's winning over Republican voters by double-digit points and his indictments have spurred the biggest fundraising days of his campaign.
"These justices are a disgrace to our country. The court's ruling is just more election interference. America stands with President Trump," GOP Representative Troy Nehls wrote on X.
While Trump's supporters were outraged by the decision, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff celebrated the unprecedented ruling. He wrote on X that it was "about time" that Trump was held accountable for inciting an insurrection.
Film director Rob Reiner, who hasn't been shy about criticizing the former president, said the Colorado Supreme Court was "stating the obvious" that Trump engaged in an insurrection and called it "nice" that "sanity" was poking its head up.
Trump could still win the presidential election if he's barred from the ballot in Colorado. It's a state that Biden won by more than 13 percentage points in 2020, and isn't critical to Trump's electoral count. However, if more states follow Colorado's lead, it could block Trump from being able to reach the 270-vote threshold needed to win.
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About the writer
Jenni Fink is a senior editor at Newsweek, based in New York. She leads the National News team, reporting on ... Read more