Trump Appeals Colorado Supreme Court Ruling That He's Ineligible to Run for President

The clock is ticking. Or is that a ticking time bomb?

Tomorrow, January 5, Colorado must certify its 2024 presidential primary ballot in order to make the January 20 deadline for mailing ballots to voters living overseas. And unless the U.S. Supreme Court displays superhero speed over the next 24 hours, Donald Trump will be on that ballot — even though the Colorado Supreme Court determined that under Amendment 14 of the U.S. Constitution, the former president is disqualified to run because as an "officer of the United States," he was involved in the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Late last month, the Colorado Republican Party appealed that December 19 decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. And yesterday, January 3, Trump did the same, saying that he "in no way" was engaged in insurrection. And besides, his appeal argues, the president is not an "officer of the U.S." If the authors of Amendment 14 — adopted three years after the Civil War ended — really wanted that stipulation to apply to the commander in chief as well as underlings and other elected offices, wouldn't they have specified that?

Both appeals are asking for fast action from the U.S. Supreme Court. So are the plaintiffs in the original Colorado case — four Republicans and two unaffiliated voters — although they definitely disagree with the arguments in the two appeals. And so is the defendant, Colorado Secretary of State, whose office is responsible for the ballot. But that doesn't mean Secretary of State Jena Griswold agrees with the content of the appeals, either. Between national media appearances, she issued this statement yesterday:

“The United States Supreme Court now has two appeals to consider in determining whether Donald Trump is eligible to appear on Colorado's Presidential Primary ballot. I urge the Court to consider this case as quickly as possible. Coloradans — and the American people — deserve clarity on whether someone who engaged in insurrection may run for the country's highest office."

The lawyers representing the plaintiffs, including 91-year-old former Republican lawmaker Norma Anderson, released this statement yesterday along with their request for speed: “Donald Trump’s unprecedented actions on January 6, 2021 unquestionably bar him from Colorado primary ballots under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, as determined by the Colorado Supreme Court. Today’s brief underscores that Section 3 applies to former presidents, that our clients had the right to bring this challenge under Colorado state law and that the First Amendment does not allow a state party to list disqualified candidates on the ballot. It is crucial that the Supreme Court take up and review this case quickly so that Colorodans and the American public have complete clarity on Donald Trump’s eligibility before casting their ballots."

The U.S. Supreme Court is meeting on January 5 to consider various cases it's been asked to take on, including Anderson v. Griswold. At this point, the only way Trump's name would be left off the ballot would be if the Supreme Court declines to take the case or, in a far less likely scenario, somehow manages to affirm the Colorado Supreme Court decision before the end of the day.

Most legal pundits are predicting that the court will take the case, leaving Trump's name on the March 5 Colorado presidential primary ballot — and leaving the state in limbo regarding whether any votes for Trump will be counted.

The former president, who's accused Colorado of "rigging" elections numerous times, has his rigger finger at the ready.

"It’s time to put a STOP to all of these vicious attempts to REMOVE my name from the ballot," Trump blasts in his latest email to supporters. "That’s why my attorneys have officially APPEALED to the SUPREME COURT to keep my name on the 2024 ballot once and for all. As we now prepare to take on the Soros-funded Democrats in a Supreme Court showdown, I’m humbly asking you to help fund our battle to stay on the ballot in 2024....What the Democrats are doing in these ballot battles is downright despicable. And the victim in all of this isn’t even me…It’s YOU."

Tick. Tick. Tick.