Trump fires back at Colorado judges calling their landmark rulings 'election interference': Republican Party leader is furious at being kicked off the state's 2024 ballot as his team vows to appeal a 'highly undemocratic decision'

Former President Donald Trump labeled the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to remove him from the 2024 presidential primary in the Rocky Mountain State as “election interference” on the TruthSocial platform.

On Tuesday, a divided court ruled that Trump was ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution's insurrection clause and removed him from the state's presidential primaries, setting up a likely showdown in the nation's highest court to decide or the frontrunner for the Republican nomination could remain in the race.

Trump, 77, has not issued an official response to the ruling, but has previously posted numerous videos on Fox News in which several pro-Trump talking heads lamented the decision.

While campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that Trump has “full confidence” the decision will be reversed when it reaches the conservative Supreme Court in Washington.

Cheung said the decision in Colorado was “not surprising” and called it part of a “scheme by a left-wing group to interfere in elections on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.”

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, pictured next to Trump in the Oval Office in 2020, said an appeal has been filed with the Supreme Court

The former White House staffer claimed that powerful members of the Democratic Party are “in a state of paranoia about the growing, dominant lead” in the Republican primaries and that they are “doing everything they can to prevent American voters from throw them out of office next time. November.'

Cheung said the appeal was filed last night.

Trump made no direct reference to the Colorado decision at a rally Tuesday night in Waterloo, Iowa, other than to accuse the Democratic Party of trying to rig the 2024 election.

In the video accompanying Trump's message about “election interference,” conservative activist Charlie Hurt claimed the Colorado court “opened the floodgates” with its decision.

'This will open the floodgates. There will be left-wing crazy states all over the country trying to do the same thing,” Hurt said.

“This has very little to do with access to ballots in the general election. It has to do with Donald Trump not being able to get the Republican nomination…Democratic leaders have also lost faith in democracy, and that's what we're seeing in Colorado today.”

“The Democrats in Colorado are so afraid of getting American voters to vote and elect the next president that they are willing to do extrajudicial things, a complete robbery here to thwart the people's choice not to get on the ballot, he added.

Trump made no direct reference to the Colorado decision during a rally Tuesday evening in Waterloo

Legal scholar Jonathan Turley blasted the Colorado Supreme Court for its ruling that removed former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary

The former Apprentice host also quoted conservative legal scholar Jonathan Turley, who said in an appearance on Fox that the US is now a “powder keg.”

“This country is a powder keg and this court is just throwing matches at it… for people who say they're trying to protect democracy, this is without a doubt the most anti-democratic opinion I've seen in my life,” Turley said .

The president then posted another video featuring another conservative talking head, Gregg Jarrett, repeating allegations of “election fraud.”

“This is an attempt, make no mistake, to deprive American voters of the right to decide who should become president. It is anti-democratic. It is the equivalent of tampering with the ballot box,” Jarrett said.

Ned Ryun of the American Majority, a right-wing organization, also said the Democratic Party was afraid of Trump's popularity.

“They don't want the voters to decide this… there is clearly a deep fear that Donald Trump may win back the White House,” he told Laura Ingraham.

On the same show, Chris Laundau, a former law clerk to conservative Justices Thomas and Scalia, said simply, “It's not good for the country at all.”

When Ingraham opened up to her how, Ingraham used Trump's phrase announcing the decision: “Election interference.”

Trump legal spokeswoman Alina Habba said in a statement Tuesday evening: “This ruling, issued by the Colorado Supreme Court, strikes at the heart of this country's democracy. It will not stand, and we trust the Supreme Court will reverse this unconstitutional decision.”

Trump made no mention of the decision at a rally Tuesday night in Waterloo, Iowa, but his campaign sent out a fundraising email calling it a “tyrannical statement.”

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel labeled the decision “election interference” and said the RNC's legal team plans to help Trump fight the ruling.

Trump lost Colorado in 2020 by 13 percentage points and does not need the state to win next year's presidential election. But the danger for the former president is that more courts and election officials will follow Colorado's lead and exclude Trump from must-win states.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump attend a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, USA, December 19, 2023

The decision by a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.

“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 4-3 decision.

Colorado's highest court overturned a ruling by a district court judge who found Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, but said he could not be barred from the vote because it was unclear was that the provision was intended to cover the presidency.

The court postponed its decision until January 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the case. Colorado officials say the issue must be resolved by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to push its presidential primaries.

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the court majority wrote. 'We are aware of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are also aware of our solemn obligation to apply the law, without fear or favour, and without being influenced by public reactions to the decisions that the law requires us to make.'