Senior White House and Biden campaign officials are reportedly concerned that the Colorado Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling barring former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot will help Biden’s rival while hurting the president’s 2024 campaign message.
A source familiar with discussions in the Biden White House and Biden campaign told NBC News that senior officials were “pissed” after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump could be removed from the state’s ballot, citing the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. The court’s decision makes it look “like Colorado is attempting election interference through non-elected Democratic-appointed justices with funding from ‘shady left-wing donors,'” the source said, according to NBC News.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that “Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment” arguing that he took part in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, “inciting the crowd that breached the U.S. Capitol.”
The court’s decision met immediate backlash from Republicans, independents, and legal experts who said the ruling was an “assault on due process of law” and set a “very, very dangerous” precedent. Trump reacted to the decision, calling it “A SAD DAY IN AMERICA!!!”
Some Republicans and Democrats, including Trump’s GOP foe Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), said the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling would bolster Trump’s support heading into the 2024 general election.
“They’re doing all this stuff to basically solidify support in the primary for him, get him into the general, and the whole general election’s going to be all this legal stuff,” DeSantis said Wednesday.
“One thing is clear: this will help Donald Trump. Do these Colorado clowns in black robes not realize that?” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said.
White House and Biden campaign officials reportedly fear the court’s decision barring Trump from the ballot will also have negative consequences for Biden, who has repeatedly told Americans that Trump and his supporters are extremists who attempted to interfere in the 2020 election and threaten the country.
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Pres. Biden: “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” https://t.co/ARxiYL3o54 pic.twitter.com/ttpqDid2HJ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 2, 2022
The president told a reporter on Wednesday that it’s up to the courts to determine if the 14th Amendment can bar Trump from elected office, but added that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection.”
“It’s self-evident. You saw it all,” Biden said. “Now whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection. There’s no question about it. None. Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on it.”
Reporter: “Is Trump an insurrectionist, sir?”
President Biden: "It's self-evident. You saw it all. Now whether the 14th Amendment applies, I'll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection. There's no question about it. None. Zero." pic.twitter.com/SlWwQ5TtJs
— The Recount (@therecount) December 20, 2023
According to the source close to discussions among Biden’s team, the White House is hoping the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is quickly overturned.
“We all hope Biden wakes up on Christmas morning to an A3 story in the Delaware News Journal saying that the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Trump,” the source said.