GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has backed former US President Donald Trump after a Colorado court barred him from contesting the next presidential elections in Colorado, and threatened to withdraw from the primary if Trump is not allowed to be on the state’s ballot. He also asked his fellow Republican hopefuls to do the same immediately. He said that the Colorado ruling was a tactic to silence political opponents and swing the election in the favour of the Democrats.
“This is what an *actual* attack on democracy looks like: in an un-American, unconstitutional, and *unprecedented* decision, a cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado. Having tried every trick in the book to eliminate President Trump from running in this election, the bipartisan Establishment is now deploying a new tactic to bar him from ever holding office again: the 14th Amendment. I pledge to *withdraw* from the Colorado GOP primary unless Trump is also allowed to be on the state’s ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley to do the same immediately - or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country,” said Ramaswamy on a social media post.
He said that the Colorado decision is a tactic to favour the Democrat “puppet” (re: candidate) by depriving Americans of the right to vote for a candidate of their choice. Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024.
The judgment is expected to be taken up in the US Supreme Court. The 4-3 ruling against Trump makes him the first presidential candidate in US history to be deemed ineligible for the White House under a rarely used provision of the US Constitution – Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It bars individuals who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the country from holding federal office. The 14th Amendment has been invoked against Trump over his role in the Capitol riots by his supporters.
In his post, Ramaswamy argued that the 14th Amendment was passed to prohibit Confederate military and political leaders from holding high federal or state office. “These men had clearly taken part in a rebellion against the United States: the Civil War. That makes it all the more absurd that a left-wing group in Colorado is asking a federal court to disqualify the 45th President on the same grounds, equating his speech to rebellion against the United States,” he said in support of Trump.
Ramaswamy also argued that Trump is not a “former officer of the United States” as the term is used in the Constitution, meaning Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not apply.
He said that the 14th Amendment, meant to be used against Confederates, being “weaponised” by a sitting President and his allies against a former President. “Our country is becoming unrecognizable to our Founding Fathers,” he said.
The ruling, although only applies to the Colorado March 5 Republican primary, could have wider ramifications as it could impact Trump’s chances in the state for the general elections.
The Colorado Supreme Court, in its ruling, said that they are mindful of the magnitude and the weight of the questions they would have to answer now because of the Trump order. “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,” they said.
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