Republicans Threaten to Take Joe Biden Off Ballot in States They Control
Dec 20, 2023 at 8:52 AM EST
By Kate Plummer | Newsweek
Republicans are calling for President Joe Biden to be removed from state presidential ballots following a Colorado court ruling that Donald Trump is not permitted to be on its ballot next year.
In a 4-3 decision on Wednesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the former president violated the 14th Amendment, which bars public officials from holding federal office if they have engaged in insurrection.
In November, a lower court in Colorado had agreed with the plaintiffs, a group of Colorado voters including Norma Anderson, a petitioner and former Republican majority leader of the Colorado House and Senate, that Trump engaged in insurrection over his behavior during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. During the siege, Trump supporters stormed the building in protest of his election loss.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with insurrection. He has argued that courts do not have the authority to bar candidates from the ballot under the constitutional provision.
Now, some Republicans have said Biden, too, should be removed from state ballots, though it is not clear on what constitutional grounds.
Colorado GOP say they will cancel primary if Donald Trump isn't on ballot
Anthony Sabatini, a Republican running for Congress in Florida's 11th district who previously served as a Florida state representative, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Remove Biden from the Florida ballot now!"
Speaking to Fox News, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick suggested Biden should be removed from his state's 2024 ballot due to his administration's response to immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Seeing what happened in Colorado makes me think—except we believe in democracy in Texas—maybe we should take Joe Biden off the ballot in Texas for allowing eight million people to cross the border since he's been president disrupting our state," Patrick said.
Political commentator Gunther Eagleman posted on X that Biden should be removed from the Texas ballot after the Colorado ruling. Peachy Keenan, a conservative commentator and author, took it a step further, writing on X: "All red states should immediately petition their courts to remove Biden from the ballot."
The Colorado Supreme Court said in its ruling: "A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
"President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection," it added. "Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that Vice President Pence refuse to perform his constitutional duty and by calling Senators to persuade them to stop the counting of electoral votes. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection."
Reacting to the Trump's ruling, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said they would be appealing the decision to to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat-appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a [George] Soros-funded, left-wing group's scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump's name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice," Cheung said in a statement.
Cheung added: "Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November.
"The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision. We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits."
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