The Supreme Court is wary of vetoing Trump from the elections: "Everything will come down to a handful of states that will decide the presidential election"

This Thursday, the judges of the United States Supreme Court issued reservations about the implications that validating the state of Colorado's decision to eliminate Donald Trump (2017-2021) from the Republican primaries for his role could have at the national level for the November elections. in the assault on the Capitol.

Both the most progressive justices – such as Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan – and the most conservative ones – among them the president of the Supreme Court, John Roberts – suggested in their interventions discomfort with the idea of individual states interpreting the constitutional eligibility of a candidate for a national position.

“It's all going to come down to a handful of states that will decide the presidential election,” and this is “a pretty discouraging consequence,” said Roberts, who predicted that a decision in favor of Colorado could lead to attempts across the country to disqualify to candidates.

This has been one of the central arguments of the hearing after which it will be determined whether Trump's expulsion from the Republican primaries in Colorado for his role in the assault on the Capitol in January 2021 is constitutional and if, therefore, Trump is disqualified from returning to the White House.

The Supreme Court's decision will not be known this Thursday, but according to many analysts, the arguments seem to indicate that the judges, with a conservative majority, may not decide to support Colorado for fear of altering the November presidential elections.. Trump is the favorite to win the Republican nomination and once again face President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate.

In his speech, the lawyer representing the voters who questioned Trump's eligibility, Jason Murray, denied that Colorado is going to interfere at the national level since “ultimately, it is this court (the Supreme Court) that is going to decide.” and “resolve the issue for the nation.”

Not doing so, he noted, would mean betting on “chaos,” since the elections would go ahead with the possibility that Trump would win and then be disqualified from assuming office, following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings he faces.

Assault on the Capitol

Although the question of whether there was an insurrection on January 6 was not the focus of the hearing, Murray insisted that the assault on the Capitol “was incited by a sitting president” who participated “in an insurrection,” so he is affected by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the focus of the debate.

An opinion not shared by Trump's lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, who stated that an insurrection requires “an organized and concerted effort to overthrow the government through violence” and that this did not occur.

“This was a riot, not an insurrection. “The events were shameful, criminal, violent, all those things, but they did not qualify as an insurrection as that term is used in Section 3,” he stressed.

This now famous Section establishes that no “member of Congress or officer of the United States” who has sworn an oath to the Constitution and “participated in an insurrection or rebellion” may be “elected president or vice president,” among other public offices.

It was approved in 1868, after the Civil War, with the objective of preventing the southern rebels of the Confederacy who betrayed the Magna Carta from returning to power.

Mitchell also argued that the amendment cannot be applied to Trump because the text speaks of “officials” and does not mention presidents and also maintained that excluding a presidential candidate from the electoral ballot is the exclusive function of Congress and requires the approval of a law.

The Supreme Court will have to make a decision quickly due to the tight electoral calendar, but analysts doubt that there will be a ruling before Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states, including Colorado, will hold their primaries.

In an unprecedented ruling, the Colorado Justice determined in December that the 14th Amendment disqualifies the Republican for the “insurrection” of the assault on the Capitol, when a horde of Trumpists attacked Congress to try to stop the ratification of Biden's victory.

Under the same argument, Maine electoral authorities also expelled Trump from the primaries. In addition, several activists and organizations have filed similar lawsuits in at least 11 states and are waiting for the Supreme Court to rule.

Trump says “it was not an insurrection”

Former President Donald Trump was quick to comment on the matter.. During a brief press conference he offered outside his residence in South Florida, he stated that there is “no case” against him to disqualify him in the general elections and that it is more of a case of “electoral interference by Democrats.”

“It was not an insurrection,” said Trump, who at the same time highlighted his good position in the polls, both in the Republican Party primaries and in an eventual face-to-face with President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election.