In a major relief for Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court on Monday, allowed the former President to appear on the ballot in Colorado, CNN reported.
The top court ruling reverses the Colorado order, which disqualified Trump over his conduct around the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
The development follows months of debate over whether the frontrunner for the GOP nomination violated the “insurrectionist clause” included in the 14th Amendment.
The opinion is a massive victory for Trump, vanquishing one of the many legal threats that have both plagued and animated his campaign against President Joe Biden.
However, the decision has no impact on the four ongoing criminal cases that Trump is facing, including the federal election subversion case that covers some of the same conduct surrounding January 6, 2021, as reported by CNN.
The court was unanimous on the idea that Trump could not be unilaterally removed from the ballot.
But the justices were divided about how broadly the decision would sweep. A 5-4 majority said that no state could dump a federal candidate off any ballot – but four justices asserted that the court should have limited its opinion.
The former President hailed the judgement terming it a “big win” for the country.
“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” Trump wrote on social media.
But, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the liberal group that filed the the lawsuit on behalf of Republican voters, criticized the Supreme Court ruling – but also said it was “in no way a win for Trump” because it declined to address the insurrection language from Colorado.
“The Supreme Court had the opportunity in this case to exonerate Trump, and they chose not to do so. Every court – or decision-making body – that has substantively examined the issue has determined that January 6th was an insurrection and that Donald Trump incited it. That remains true today,” the group said.
Notably, the US Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t directly address whether Trump’s actions on January 6 qualified as an “insurrection” – skirting an issue that the courts in Colorado had wrestled with, according to CNN.
