Super Tuesday: Supreme Court readmits Trump to Colorado primary

The US Supreme Court upholds Donald Trump's eligibility in Colorado, one of 15 states voting on Tuesday in the Super Tuesday. The judges upheld the former president's appeal against the state supreme court's decision to ban him for his role in the assault on Congress under the 14th Amendment, which bans public office for officials involved in insurrections against the constitution. The ruling will also set precedent for all other appeals pending in other states. "A great victory for America": this was Donald Trump's warm reaction.

States do not have the authority to remove a presidential candidate under the 14th Amendment, the 'Insurrection Clause' of the Constitution. Only Congress has that power. This is the reasoning with which the Supreme Judges rejected the Colorado decision.

The High Court acted one day before Super Tuesday, when presidential primaries will be held in Colorado and 14 other states and one territory.

The case was brought by a group of Colorado voters, aided by the Washington-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics: their argument, rejected, was that Trump should be disqualified for inciting his supporters to attack the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to thwart the transfer of power to Biden after winning the 2020 election.

The 14th Amendment, under which the Colorado Supreme Court barred Donald Trump from voting in the Republican presidential primary in that state, was adopted in 1868, after the American Civil War. The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. But Section Three of the amendment states that public servants who have sworn to uphold the Constitution are banned from future office if involved in an 'insurrection' or 'rebellion'. The wording is considered vague and does not explicitly mention the presidency. It has so far only been applied twice since 1919.