In an unprecedented and controversial legal ruling, a divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and ordered his name removed from the state’s presidential primary ballot.
The decision sets up a historic showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide whether the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.
Aggregate polling shows that Trump isn’t just leading the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Despite the Colorado ruling, Trump has an aggregate 3-point advantage in a hypothetical rematch against President Joe Biden — and when the polls from December 2019 are compared, the polls have undergone a titanic shift.
In Dec. 2019, Biden enjoyed a 4.4-point aggregate polling advantage over Trump, according to RealClearPolitics. That has reversed to a 3-point lead for Trump over Biden in Dec. 2023 polling aggregate.
In other words, there’s been a massive 7.4-point shift in the polls in Trump’s favor.
Here’s what a 7.4-point reversal looks like if it’s applied to the results of the 2020’s election —
The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
“A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court majority wrote in its narrow 4-3 decision.
The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots.
Trump’s attorneys had promised to appeal any disqualification immediately to the nation’s highest court, which has the final say about constitutional matters.
Trump’s legal spokeswoman Alina Habba said in a statement Tuesday night: “This ruling, issued by the Colorado Supreme Court, attacks the very heart of this nation’s democracy. It will not stand, and we trust that the Supreme Court will reverse this unconstitutional order.”
Trump didn’t mention the decision during a rally Tuesday evening in Waterloo, Iowa, but his campaign sent out a fundraising email citing what it called a “tyrannical ruling.”
Trump’s allies rushed to his defense, slamming the decision as “un-American” and “insane” and part of a politically-motivated effort to destroy his candidacy.
“Four partisan Democrat operatives on the Colorado Supreme Court think they get to decide for all Coloradans and Americans the next presidential election,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said in a statement.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article