'Colorado is already trying to steal and rig' 2024 election against Trump, Alabama leaders say

On Tuesday, the Colorado State Supreme Court narrowly voted four to three to deny former President Donald J. Trump access to appearing on the primary ballot in the 2024 Colorado Republican Primary.

The Justices found that the January 6, 2021 protests that at the U.S. Capitol Building was an “insurrection” and thus Trump is barred from ever serving in public office under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

On Tuesday evening, Alabama’s elected officials said Colorado’s ruling is a gimmick, it won’t stand under any further legal rigor, and is ultimately an anti-democratic move that validates the urgency to return Trump to the White House in 2024.

Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth took the biggest swing, saying, “Colorado is already trying to steal and rig next year’s presidential election.”

Colorado is already trying to steal and rig next year’s presidential election. The national media and the country’s most liberal states know President Trump will beat Joe Biden handily, which is what they fear most. Join me in helping President Trump make America great again.

— Will Ainsworth (@willainsworthAL) December 20, 2023

U.S. Senator Katie Britt said clearly, Trump is such a political threat, that “Democrats don’t believe they can beat him fairly at the ballot box.”

“With President Trump’s poll numbers skyrocketing and President Biden’s numbers in the basement, Democrats have now stooped to a new low,” Sen. Britt (R-Montgomery) said.

“Trying to kick President Trump off the ballot is a clear sign that Democrats don’t believe they can beat him fairly at the ballot box. The Supreme Court of the United States should correct this flagrantly partisan decision with all due haste. Our nation must function as a constitutional republic, not a banana republic.”

Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) was Alabama’s first Federal elected official to lambast the political stunt, saying liberal justices are trying to subvert the will of the American people.

“This is election interference, pure and simple, and we shouldn’t tolerate it,” Carl, who is running for reelection to Alabama’s First Congressional District, posted Tuesday night.

We cannot allow liberal justices to continue forcing their personal agendas on millions of Americans.

This is election interference, pure and simple, and we shouldn’t tolerate it. https://t.co/kj6qonNJwX

— Jerry Carl (@CarlForAlabama) December 20, 2023

Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) — also running for AL-01 — said he, and America, stands with the former president.

This is election interference.

America stands with President Trump! https://t.co/ZKA6oT7bDY

— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) December 20, 2023

Tuesday’s ruling to bar Trump from the ballot makes Colorado the first state in the country to block him from seeking the presidency. They likely won’t be the last. All seven members of the Colorado Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors.

Colorado’s ruling bars the Colorado Secretary of State from placing Trump’s name on the ballot and counting any votes for the former President.

The Colorado ruling could head to the U.S. Supreme Court expeditiously, legal experts say.

Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) called the unprecedented political move by Colorado’s highest court a “flagrant disregard for the Constitution and places the opinions of judges over the will of the people.”

Removing President Trump from the ballot sets a dangerous precedent where the Constitution becomes a meaningless document weaponized by the left against their political enemies. pic.twitter.com/0c8HG6NVmC

— Gary Palmer (@USRepGaryPalmer) December 20, 2023

Rep. Dale Strong (R-Monrovia) spoke to the root cause of the intention by the Colorado Supreme Court: “The more America’s liberal elite try to silence him, the more support President Trump will earn.”

“I am glad he intends to appeal this horrendous decision out of Colorado, and I trust that the Supreme Court will let the American people pick President Biden’s replacement,” Strong posted.

Colorado’s effort to remove President Trump from the ballot will fail because people see clearly what is happening. Trump is popular because he produced the greatest economy in generations & kept his promise to represent the American people instead of Washington special interests

— Dale W. Strong (@RepDaleStrong) December 20, 2023

The court put its ruling on hold until Jan. 4, to give Trump time to seek redress from the U.S. Supreme Court. If Trump’s appeal is rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court then the ban on Trump running on a Colorado ballot takes effect.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) says Colorado is legally and politically wasting their time.

I’m confident the United States Supreme Court will reverse the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court. State courts should not be in the business of deciding who may or may not seek federal office. This ruling also realistically has no impact at all on the electoral college.

— Robert Aderholt (@Robert_Aderholt) December 20, 2023

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Court wrote in its narrow majority decision. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

The Fourteenth Amendment, enacted in 1866, includes a clause barring those involved in insurrections from government service. This was a response to Confederate leaders winning post-Civil War elections, a move that frustrated Republicans seeking harsher Reconstruction measures. This clause, aimed initially at Confederate veterans, has been cited by some as applicable to Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 protest.

“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said.

“We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these un-American lawsuits.”

On Wednesday morning, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville said he has, “no doubt this will be overturned on appeal and this attack on democracy will fail,” and pointed out the irony in Democrats giving “lectures” on fairness and democracy.

Democrats love to give us lectures about ‘Our Democracy,’ but they have spent years trying to disqualify the most popular politician in America from getting reelected. This unprecedented court ruling by a bare majority of democrat-appointed activist politicians in robes is an…

— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) December 20, 2023

Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl’s statement on the ruling noted this is not a new tactic at work against American conservatives.

“This court ruling is just the latest example of Democrats using the power of government as a political weapon. We saw it when the IRS targeted conservative groups in 2012, when the Biden Administration weaponized the Justice Department, and now with a Democrat appointed state court going after their party’s biggest political rival,” Wahl said.

“These actions undermine the faith and trust of the American people, and are a serious part of why trust in the federal government is at an all-time low.”

All of Alabama’s state and federal elected officials who shared their contempt for Colorado’s ruling have publicly endorsed Trump in 2024. The Alabama Supreme Court has not ruled yet on Trump’s constitutional eligibility, but it’s safe to assume there will be no threat to the former president’s appearance on the March 5, 2024 GOP primary ballot.

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected]