The U.S. Supreme Court would swiftly review and rule in favor of former President Donald Trump for his appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that would disqualify him from the state’s 2024 primary ballot, according to his former lawyer Ty Cobb.
“I think this case will be handled quickly,” Mr. Cobb said during an interview on CNN’s “Out Front.” “I think it could be 9-0 in the Supreme Court for Trump.”
On Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that President Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 incident.
The court’s 4-3 decision marks President Trump as the first candidate in U.S. history to be declared ineligible to run for the White House.
The decision centered on an interpretation of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits certain individuals from holding public office if they have engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion.” The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that this section extends to the presidency, stating, “Section Three encompasses the office of the Presidency and someone who has taken an oath as President.”
During the interview, Mr. Cobb cited three U.S. Supreme Court decisions that “do not conclude that the officers in this context include the president or the vice president.” This suggests a potential overturn when the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the case, allowing President Trump to keep his name on the primary ballot in Colorado.
“It will be a race to get there,” the former White House lawyer said.
“The Supreme Court, though, will not hesitate to move quickly to this; they know what the stakes are; they know what their responsibility is,” Mr. Cobbs added. “And they can delay some of these Colorado dates to the extent that they feel they’re obligated to or have to.”
Following the ruling, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung pledged to “swiftly file an appeal” to the nation’s highest court, saying, “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.”
In addition, Mr. Cobb said the ruling “vindicates his insistence that this is a political conspiracy to interfere with the election and that he’s the target and the people shouldn’t tolerate that in America.”
Responses
President Trump announced that he will appeal the decision and denounced it as a partisan attempt to block his White House bid.“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” the statement reads.
GOP presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy condemned the court’s decision, calling it an “actual attack on democracy.” He vowed to withdraw his name from the Republican primary ballot in Colorado and urged other GOP candidates to do the same.
“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.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the ruling a “thinly veiled partisan attack” and expressed confidence the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn the decision by the all-Democrat-appointed justices.
“Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen registered to vote should not be denied the right to support our former president and the individual who is the leader in every poll of the Republican primary,” Mr. Johnson said on X. “We trust the U.S. Supreme Court will set aside this reckless decision and let the American people decide the next president of the United States.”
Colorado GOP chairman Rep. Dave Williams said that the Colorado Republican Party would “withdraw from the primary and go to a strict caucus process that would allow our voters to choose Donald Trump.”
Meanwhile, Democrats showed their support for the court’s ruling.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said the court’s directions is right. “The Constitution protects the right to vote and bars candidates who abuse the process or engage in insurrection,” he said. “Donald Trump has done both.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called the court’s decision “accountability for inciting an insurrection.”
