On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court used the insurrection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to block former President Donald Trump from running in the state’s Republican primary.
President Joe Biden backed the decision and accused his political rival of being an insurrectionist. ”
Whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection,” Biden told reporters Tuesday.
However, one top Democrat isn’t remaining silent. Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., broke with Biden and backed Trump’s political team. She blasted the Colorado court for making a “real bad decision” politically despite saying the legal case was strong.
“I have taken the time to read some scholarly treatises on this issue, and there are some really smart lawyers who would come down on both sides,” McCaskill explained Thursday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“Now, there’s two hats here I wear. One is a lawyer. One is someone who’s run for office and cares deeply about the election next year.”
McCaskill, as a former prosecutor, expected the U.S. Supreme Court to interpret the Fourteenth Amendment literally.
“The lawyer says this is pretty obvious, especially to a Supreme Court who’s so fixated on textualism and originalism,” McCaskill said. “Because what the language is, if you put it into context about when it was written and what it was written about, this is a tough one for the Supreme Court to abandon their two pillars they claim to be making all their decisions around. So, as a lawyer, I get this, and I think there is a real strong case for the Supreme Court to agree with Colorado.”
As a former elected official, McCaskill blasted the Colorado decision.
“As somebody who is a politician, I think it’s a real bad decision because I think it really helps Donald Trump. And I don’t like anything that helps Donald Trump,” McCaskill said.
“In a perfect world, if I could write the script, the Supreme Court would put him back on the ballot and then he would be defeated soundly. That’s what I want in my Christmas stocking this year.”
McCaskill acknowledged her unlikely agreement with Team Trump. “I find myself in a weird position of agreeing with Bill Barr in terms of it helping him,” McCaskill said, referring to Trump’s former attorney general.
Take a look —
Former Dem senator Claire McCaskill said the Colorado Supreme Court decision is a "real bad idea." She said all she wants in her Christmas stocking is for Trump to be back on the ballot. @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/MDMzd7jgcy
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) December 21, 2023
McCaskill later agreed with Scarborough’s characterization of the Fourteenth Amendment as “clear and unambiguous.”
Colorado’s Supreme Court remains the only one to have blocked Trump. High courts of many other states, like Minnesota, have dismissed the liberal legal actions and allowed Trump to remain on the ballot. Other states, like New Mexico, are still weighing the decision.
Ultimately, McCaskill expects the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the issue.
“It is one that is just made for the Supreme Court to make a decision,” she said.
The Horn editorial team