In the Supreme Court, a round of hearings began regarding the decision of the state of Colorado to reject Donald Trump’s candidacy in the Republican primaries.
The US Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing a historic case involving the former president Donald Trump’s eligibility in the Republican primary in the state of Colorado. The Supreme Court’s decision may have a big impact on the outcome of the current year’s presidential election.
Among other things, they reported on the matter The New York Times and The Washington Post.
At the end of the year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump cannot participate in the Republican Party primaries in the state.
The reason is the 14th amendment to the constitution, according to which participants in the rebellion against the constitution cannot be elected to public office, if they have previously sworn in their oath of office to support the constitution. The background of the case is therefore Trump’s efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and his part in the January 2021 congressional riot.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court started hearing the case. According to The Washington Post, the Supreme Court can issue its decision at any time after the hearings.
The last time the Supreme Court made a decision directly related to the outcome of the presidential election was in 2000, when it aligned the Republican George W. Bush and a Democrat Al Gore’s between the vote count dispute in favor of Bush.
According to The Washington Post, at that time the Supreme Court made its decision quickly.
The Republican primary will be held in Colorado on March 5.
A politically sensitive decision
The Maine Supreme Court has also declared Trump ineligible to run in the Republican primary, and that case is also headed to the federal Supreme Court.
If the Supreme Court decides to accept Colorado’s decision to reject Trump’s candidacy, this could mean similar decisions in other Democratic-led states as well.
Ultimately, the decision may affect Trump’s eligibility to run for president at all.
Legal experts interviewed by The Washington Post say the Supreme Court’s decision could lead to the worst political instability since the American Civil War if it chooses to overturn the Colorado decision.
Because of this, judges can avoid making a decision on a politically hot issue and make a narrower policy. This could be, for example, the rejection of the Colorado decision based on technical reasons.
Three of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Trump.