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Donald Trump is disqualified from serving as president and barred from appearing on ballots for president in Colorado under the 14th Amendment.
This is the first time a presidential candidate has been disqualified or removed from a ballot under the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the president is an “officer” under the United States Constitution and that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to the president, reversing a ruling by a district court in November that Trump could appear on Colorado ballots for president despite engaging in insurrection on January 6, 2021. The Colorado Supreme Court ruling also denied Donald Trump’s appeal on eleven issues, affirming that Trump engaged in insurrection and that his actions on and leading up to January 6, 2021 are not protected by the First Amendment.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, bars any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” and then has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood before the nation and took an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” After losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump violated that oath by recruiting, inciting and encouraging a violent mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a futile attempt to remain in office.
This is the second time that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to bar officials who participated in the January 6th insurrection from elected office. Last year, CREW represented residents of New Mexico who sued to remove county commissioner Couy Griffin from office, the first successful case to be brought under Section 3 since 1869.