The legal dispute over former US President Donald Trump’s participation in his Republican Party’s primaries will be decided by the country’s highest court. The Supreme Court in Washington announced on Friday that it would consider Trump’s exclusion from the primary election in the state of Colorado in a hearing in early February. Trump said in a speech in the state of Iowa that he hoped for “fair treatment” from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of Colorado ruled in December that the right-wing populist was not allowed to take part in the Republicans’ vote on their presidential candidate in that state because of his role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump then appealed to the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has now announced an oral hearing on the case for February 8th.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision has far-reaching implications for the primaries that extend beyond Colorado. There are also efforts in other states to ban Trump from the primaries. In the state of Maine, the election officer decided that the ex-president would not be allowed to run there. Trump’s lawyers also appealed against this decision, but initially at the Supreme Court of this state.
Proceedings had also been initiated in other states to exclude Trump from the primaries. However, this was rejected in Michigan and Minnesota.
The expected ruling by the Supreme Court in Washington on Colorado would be binding nationwide and all lower courts would be bound by it. The Supreme Court in Washington has a majority of conservative judges, three of whom were nominated by Trump during his term in office.
Trump’s lawyers argued in their letter to the Supreme Court that only Congress – not the state courts – should decide whether he is fit to serve as president. It also said that if Trump’s exclusion from the election stands, it would be the first time that “the judiciary has prevented voters from voting for the leading presidential candidate of a major party.”
Both Colorado and Maine cited the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution as justification for Trump’s exclusion. It states that no person may hold public office if he or she has taken part in an “insurrection or insurrection” against the Constitution after taking an oath to defend it.
It is completely unclear when the Supreme Court in Washington will make its decision. Both Colorado and Maine have their Super Tuesday primaries on March 5; On “Super Tuesday” the parties in around 15 states vote on presidential candidates.
In any case, the previous decisions to exclude Trump in Colorado and Maine are only preliminary in nature. As long as the Supreme Court has not made a ruling, the 77-year-old must remain on the ballot there.
Trump is the overwhelming favorite in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. He leads the polls by a large margin over his six internal party rivals. The Republican primary begins on January 15th in Iowa.
The primary election winner will face incumbent Joe Biden in the presidential election on November 5th. Biden’s Democrats also have primaries, but these are just a formality. Since the 81-year-old has no serious competition, he is already almost certain as a presidential candidate.
