A Democrat running against President Joe Biden in 2024 criticized the court ruling that kicked former President Donald Trump off the ballot in Colorado.
In a post to X on Wednesday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) rejected the Colorado Supreme Court majority’s decision the night before to disqualify Trump from the state’s presidential primary on the view that he engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“Do I believe Trump is guilty of inspiring an insurrection and doing nothing to stop it? I was there. Absolutely,” Phillips said in a post to his campaign X account. “Do I believe it’s wrong to ban him from the ballot in Colorado without a conviction? Absolutely. Do I believe the [U.S. Supreme Court] must opine immediately? Absolutely.”
Do I believe Trump is guilty of inspiring an insurrection and doing nothing to stop it? I was there. Absolutely.
Do I believe it’s wrong to ban him from the ballot in Colorado without a conviction? Absolutely.
Do I believe the SCOTUS must opine immediately? Absolutely.
— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) December 20, 2023
Phillips, who trails the incumbent by a wide margin in polls, spoke out shortly after Biden commented on the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling.
While addressing reporters, Biden similarly asserted the opinion that Trump “supported” an insurrection, but cast doubt on the 14th Amendment case. He did not go as far as Phillips in calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.
“It’s self-evident,” Biden said to someone who asked if Trump is an “insurrectionist.” He continued, “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.”
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
In a statement, Trump’s campaign vowed to appeal the 4-3 decision in Colorado, which was designed to be placed on hold until January 4 or until the Supreme Court rules on the case, and other GOP candidates for president and officials have criticized the ruling.
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Trump himself decried “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” in all-caps posts to his Truth Social account while also calling for other legal matters he faces to be dropped. He additionally said, “A SAD DAY IN AMERICA!!!”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another presidential candidate whose independent bid is surging among key groups, slammed the Colorado ruling, too.
“Trump blocked from the ballot in Colorado. When a court in another country disqualifies an opposition candidate from running, we say, ‘That’s not a real democracy.’ Now it’s happening here,” Kennedy said on X. “I’m not a Trump supporter (if I were, I wouldn’t be running against him!) But I want to beat him in a fair election, not because he was kicked off the ballot. Let the voters choose, not the courts!”
Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur, who is running campaign for president despite being an immigrant from Turkey in defiance of the U.S. Constitution’s “natural born citizen” clause, encouraged the Supreme Court to take up consideration of 14th Amendment ballot issues, cautioned against keeping Trump off the ballot, and chastised the Democratic Party’s handling of its election process.
“While people are outraged that Trump has been taken off the ballot in Colorado, at the same time, the Democratic Party has taken all of Biden’s opponents off the ballot in Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina primaries,” he said on X. “Democracy is on the line in a lot of ways in this election.”