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The Colorado Supreme Court's decision to remove GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot "should trouble every American," according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On Tuesday, following a lawsuit filed by six Colorado voters to bar the ex-president from the state's presidential ballot, the state's Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that the former president violated the 14th Amendment for engaging in insurrection. The decision comes one month after a lower court in Colorado ruled that Trump engaged in insurrection due to his actions on January 6, 2021.
Trump, whose behavior associated with the Capitol riot is also under federal investigation, has denied all wrongdoing and that he engaged in insurrection. He has argued that courts do not have the authority to bar candidates from the ballot under the constitutional provision.
"Every American should be troubled by the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to remove President Trump from the ballot," Kennedy, an independent candidate for the 2024 nomination, wrote Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter. "The court has deprived him of a consequential right without having been convicted of a crime. This was done without an evidentiary hearing in which he is given the basic right of confronting his accusers.
"When any candidate is deprived of his right to run, the American people are deprived of their right to choose."
A spokesperson for Kennedy referred to the candidate's posts and declined to comment further.
He went on to say that he hopes the court's decision should be "swiftly" reversed due to contributing to the perception that "elites" are choosing the next president via a manipulation of the legal system.
"If Trump is kept out of office through judicial fiat rather than being defeated in a fair election, his supporters will never accept the result," he added. "This country will become ungovernable. It's time to trust the voters. It is up to the people to decide who the best candidate is. Not the courts. The people. That's Democracy 101."
Mario Nicolais, an attorney for the six Colorado voters who filed the suit, told the BBC that other states could now take similar action.
And while many Trump supporters have vowed to write in his name on the state's ballot, the court's ruling also disallows the Colorado secretary of state from counting any write-in votes for Trump.
The move has been met with condemnation from Trump supporters, as well as the Colorado GOP.
Dave Williams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, said the GOP may fully withdraw from the primary as a protest move—or perhaps instead have a caucus to decide the party's 2024 nominee.
"I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately—or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country," GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said in a post-decision video.
Update 12/20/23, 2:51 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from the Kennedy campaign.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek investigative reporter based in Michigan. His focus includes U.S. and international politics and policies, immigration, ... Read more