The Colorado Supreme Court has disqualified Trump as a presidential candidate. What does this mean?

The Colorado Supreme Court has banned Donald Trump from participating in the state's primary ballot in March 2024. 

This was reported by CNN.

The court's decision prohibits Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold from "listing President Trump's name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot and counting votes cast for him".

Trump is the first presidential candidate in the country's history to be declared ineligible to lead the White House under the Constitution's "participation in rebellion and insurrection" provision. 

This decision was made because of his involvement in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The crowd tried to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.

The 14th Amendment to the 3rd Section of the US Constitution prohibits anyone who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and then "participated in a rebellion" against it from holding office. However, the amendment does not refer to the presidency.

The majority of the judges (four to three) said that "President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power", and there was "clear and convincing evidence that Trump participated in the riot".

It was enough for the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from the state's election. It may affect Trump's status in the November 5, 2024 general election.

Trump's lawyers plan to appeal to the Supreme Court. If Trump is disqualified from the Colorado election in the final decision, he will lose potential votes from the state in the general election.

It will also set a precedent for other states to disqualify Trump. It would put his participation in the presidential election in jeopardy.

The Colorado State Election Commission has stated that the issue must be resolved by January 5. That is the deadline for forming the list of candidates for the Republican Party's election. 

Primaries or caucuses are the primary elections that will be held in the United States from January to June 2024. Voters will elect delegates from both parties, who will later determine their candidate for the presidency of the United States in the November 2024 elections.

Donald Trump plans to appeal the decision. In a speech in Iowa, the former president called the decision "nonsense" and accused the Democrats of trying to stop the Republicans "by any means necessary".

The decision will come into force on January 4, 2024, so the US Supreme Court has time to consider an appeal.

Trump's campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, is convinced that after the appeal, the US Supreme Court will rule in favour of putting Trump on the ballot.

Courts in Arizona, Michigan, and Minnesota did not uphold Trump's removal from the ballot. 

Trump calls the transformation of the US Supreme Court one of his most outstanding achievements in office. 

He appointed three judges — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — who now lead a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

They are among the more than 230 federal judges Trump appointed during his "campaign" that have changed the ideological outlook of the US courts.

“The Supreme Court now is really in a sticky wicket, of historical proportions, of constitutional dimensions, to a degree that I don’t think we’ve ever really seen before,” said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the Associated Press.

Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, calls the Trump campaign's appeal to the Supreme Court "a political mess that will be hard to avoid".

In addition, on December 12, the US Supreme Court received a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Donald Trump on conspiracy charges to overturn the 2020 election results.

Supreme Court cases usually take several months to be heard. Smith is asking the court to act fast because of the primaries that will begin in early 2024.

For the first time, the Court will have the opportunity to decide on the issue of immunity from prosecution for former presidents in the United States. Such protection currently applies only to the current head of state.

Trump's lawyers asked the Supreme Court not to interfere in the legal debate over presidential immunity and to reject the special counsel's request.

On January 6, 2021, supporters of former US President Donald Trump seized the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, to change the presidential election results. Five people were killed. Members of the US Congress were temporarily evacuated but eventually certified the election.

The then US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the attempt to seize the Capitol a "failed coup".

On the day of the attack, Trump tweeted: "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!".

Before that, he condemned Pence and accused his deputy of "not doing what needed to be done to protect the country and the Constitution".

Later, Trump called on the protesters to "go home".  However, in the video he posted, he continued to claim that "their victory was stolen", inciting the attackers. The video was removed from social media.

The report of the House of Representatives Commission on the events of January 6 states that Donald Trump was involved in a "conspiracy" and did not take action to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.

On January 13, he was impeached.