President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday there is “no question” former President Donald Trump supported an insurrection, a day after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was disqualified from the state’s 2024 primary ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“Well I think certainly it’s self-evident,” Biden said. “You saw it all. Now whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision. But he certainly supported an insurrection.”
“No question about it — none, zero. And he seems to be doubling down on everything,” the president added.
In its ruling Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court declared that the former president “is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” and thus should not be on the state’s primary ballot next year.
The bombshell ruling is the first of its kind, finding its basis in a lawsuit that focused on a little-known provision in the 14th Amendment. None of numerous similar challenges in other states have been successful so far.
The Colorado Supreme Court explicitly included in its opinion that that state’s secretary of state, Jena Griswold, “may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”
Biden has repeatedly called Trump and his “Make America Great Again” following a threat to democracy following the Jan. 6 attack.
In September, the president warned in a speech that Trump believes presidents possess fearsome, unchecked powers, citing a quote from Trump in 2019 in which the then-president described Article II of the Constitution as giving him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” That view is at odds with constitutional norms meant to prevent unilateral rule.
A year before, Biden likened “MAGA philosophy” to “semi-fascism,” while speaking at a midterm election fundraiser in August 2022.
“What we’re seeing now is the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy,” Biden said at the event. “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
