Donald Trump didn’t need another legal setback, but this week, the Colorado Supreme Court handed him one anyway.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars any public official who swore an oath to protect the Constitution from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it or gave “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” With this in mind, a majority of the state Supreme Court concluded that the law applies to the former president, adding that the likely Republican nominee is therefore ineligible for the 2024 ballot.
This, not surprisingly, has generated a great many tantrums from Trump and his partisan brethren, who’ve expressed outrage by the idea of holding someone accountable for wrongdoing just because it’s required under constitutional law. But as NBC News noted, the former president added a new claim to his pushback roughly 24 hours ago.
Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s “not an insurrectionist” in an apparent response to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove him from the state’s 2024 primary election ballot, which President Joe Biden and others have commented on. “I’m not an Insurrectionist (“PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY”), Crooked Joe Biden is!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
So, a few things.
First, the incumbent Democratic president is neither “crooked” nor an “insurrectionist.” If Republicans had evidence to bolster either accusation, they’ve kept it well hidden.
Second, Trump didn’t even try to explain why anyone should see Biden as an “insurrectionist” because making sense isn’t the point. The rhetoric is rooted in mindless political reflexes, not evidence and reason.
Third, it’s striking just how consistent the Republican is with his I’m-rubber-you’re-glue approach to the public discourse. Accused of attacking democracy, Trump says Democrats are attacking democracy. Accused of being a “puppet” for Vladimir Putin, for example, Trump
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