Carnage in Colorado over Trump’s disqualification: Supreme Court justices who opposed decision say it will cause ‘chaos’ and Republicans threaten to CANCEL state’s primary and switch to caucuses

By William On Dec 20, 2023

Colorado's Republican Party has threatened to reject the state's planned primary if Donald Trump's name is not allowed on the ballot, replacing it with a caucus following a ruling by the state Supreme Court.

The state GOP made the threat against X after Trump rival Vivek Ramaswamy threatened to try to remove his own name from the ballot in protest.

The threat came amid the ongoing fallout from the Colorado Supreme Court's dramatic ruling barring Trump from voting under the 14th Amendment's clause on people who have committed an “insurrection” against the US.

Even one of the state Supreme Court judges, in opposing the decision, said there was no “due process,” warning it would cause chaos and saying he's “never seen anything like it” in his legal career.

Democrats have won Colorado in the last four general elections and Biden prevailed by 13 points in the state that will have 10 electoral college votes in 2024.

But the outcome of the Republican primaries will still be crucial in deciding who will run for office in November.

Colorado's Republican Party says it will cancel scheduled primaries and hold caucus in lieu of banning Donald Trump from voting

The Republican Party of Colorado responded when Ramaswamy threatened to take his name off the ballot and urged rivals Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie to do the same.

“That is not necessary, because as a party we will withdraw from the primaries and convert to a pure caucus system if this continues,” the party tweeted.

State Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams said NBC News: “We are at the mercy of the U.S. Supreme Court” and that the state was “figuring it out as we go.”

“But we will be making our preparations to form a caucus as this all plays out.” And if it (a Supreme Court ruling) doesn't go in our favor, we'll schedule a caucus. But if things go in our favor, nothing will change.”

It is not clear whether the state party could take such a step. Coloradans voted to move to a primary in 2019. This would require the endorsement of the national Republican Party, where Trump has outsized influence but would need state support and possibly overcome a lawsuit.

The office of Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who was ordered in the ruling not to put Trump's name on the ballot, would likely not agree to the new plan.

“Colorado law does not allow a presidential election to be canceled at the request of a political party,” said Jack Todd, a spokesman for Griswold.

“If the Republican Party in Colorado tries to withdraw from the presidential primaries or ignores the results of the election, this would likely be a matter for the courts,” he said.

The Republican Party said it would withdraw from the primaries if necessary, although it is not clear it could do so

The party was responding to a promise by candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to boycott the state's primaries over the court action disqualifying Trump

'This is not a democracy at all. I think the American public will find this completely abhorrent, and I think the Supreme Court will stop it,” said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)

President Joe Biden said former President Donald Trump 'supported an insurrection'

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally on the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, ahead of the attack on the Capitol. His role in the “insurrection” and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election render him ineligible to serve, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the Capitol on January 6, interrupting the joint session of Congress that was certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory

The push in Colorado comes amid anger from Trump and his Republican allies over the court ruling, which threatens to remove the leading Republican from the ballot in other states.

“What it does is it sets America on fire (and tells it) that there is a complete disregard for the opinions and the rights of those who disagree with the left,” Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee told DailyMail.com.

“And they were willing to disenfranchise, using a judicial mechanism to disenfranchise half of Colorado voters. But at the same time, Democrats are constantly talking about threats to democracy. This is an unprecedented threat to the democracy they want to practice and it shows their desperation,” he said angrily.

'This is not a democracy at all. “I think the American public will find this completely abhorrent, and I think the Supreme Court will stop it,” he said.

“A majority of the Court finds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its surprise 4-3 ruling on Tuesday.

WHAT DOES SECTION 3 OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT SAID?

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an elector of the President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath , as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of a state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, in support of the Constitution of the United States, has been engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or aid or comfort given to the enemies thereof. But Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, can remove such a disability.

The court also ruled that Trump's Jan. 6 speech, in which he told a crowd to “fight like hell” before a mob stormed the Capitol, was not protected under the First Amendment.

Legal experts, including former White House counsel Ty Cobb, have predicted the Supreme Court will reject the decision. “I think this case will be resolved quickly, I think it could be 9-0 for Trump at the Supreme Court,” Cobb predicted on CNN.

And former Trump AG Bill Barr, now a Trump critic, said Tuesday that the decision would wreak havoc on the election system.

“The core problem here is the denial of due process,” he said. “It was a five-day hearing… The process here was a procedural Frankenstein.”

He also said of the potential political impact that Trump “feeds on discontent, just as a fire feeds on oxygen.” This will ultimately be a complaint that helps him.'

But President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that there was “no doubt” that Trump engaged in an insurrection, while not addressing the court's reasoning.

Former House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who taught constitutional law, said the ruling was based on the text of the U.S. Constitution.

“If the (Supreme) Court takes its statement of faith in original intent and textualism at all seriously, then it will have to affirm the ruling,” Raskin said. “Its original meaning… is precisely to ban people who have betrayed their oath by attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.”

The conservative 6-3-weighted U.S. Supreme Court, which included three Trump appointees, could turn to Colorado's three dissenters for arguments if they want to intervene.

“I have been involved in the justice system for thirty-three years now, and what took place here is nothing like what I have seen in a courtroom,” said dissenting Judge Carlos Samour.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper's appointee warned of “chaos” in the aftermath of the ruling.

He said Trump has not been charged under any statute related to insurrection, and he has not received a jury trial or other mechanisms to protect his rights.

“In my opinion, what occurred in this trial woefully fell short of what due process requires,” he wrote in his dissent to the 4-3 decision.