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Washington: No sooner had Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump had incited an insurrection after the 2020 election and should be barred from holding office, the former president embarked on a familiar fundraising blitz.

“State Supreme Court judges ALL appointed by Democrats just REMOVED my name from the 2024 ballot in Colorado,” he lamented in a series of emails asking supporters for donations.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in NevadaCredit: AP

“Crooked Joe and the Democrats know they can’t beat us at the ballot box, so their new plan is to nullify every single “Trump ballot” in the nation to keep Biden in the White House. Make no mistake: WE WILL APPEAL THIS DECISION IMMEDIATELY.”

The response was predictable but nonetheless underscored the danger for Democrats ahead of next year’s presidential contest.

Trump, who has been indicted over four separate criminal cases, has made an art form of leveraging his legal woes to build a war chest and surge ahead of his rivals as he seeks his party’s nomination to run for office again in November.

Now, he has yet another contentious case to portray himself as the victim of a political witch hunt and turbocharge his base ahead of January’s first round of Republican caucuses and primaries, where party members get to pick their presidential candidate.

Trump supporters rally before the riot at the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.Credit: AP

There’s also every chance the Colorado Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision could anger voters who might feel their choice is being taken away by an unelected judiciary in a left-leaning state – the same kind of anger that riled up Democrats after the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority decided to overturn federal abortion rights in June last year.

Indeed, even Trump’s Republican rivals have rushed to his defence. Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who polls suggest is now the former president’s closest competitor, said she wanted to beat Trump “fair and square” based on the will of voters – not because judges had intervened.

Conservative firebrand Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to withdraw from the Colorado Republican primary race, which takes place in March, unless Trump’s name was restored.

And former governor Chris Christie, Trump’s most outspoken critic, told voters in New Hampshire: “I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being President of the United States by any court. I think he should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country.”

Nikki Haley, now considered by some to be Trump’s greatest rival for the Republican nomination, hit out at his disqualification.Credit: Getty

The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, brought on by a lawsuit filed by the progressive activist group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, only bars Trump from having his name on the Republican presidential primary ballot in that state, but does not discuss the broader presidential election in November.

Other states, such as Minnesota, New Hampshire and Arizona, have also considered and dismissed similar lawsuits.

The risk is that courts in more crucial states could follow suit and also exclude him from their ballots, further inflaming tensions in a divided country where many Americans still believe the 2020 election was stolen.

The decision is therefore significant, marking the first time a presidential candidate has been disqualified from being on a ballot under a Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The provision – enacted during the Civil War but never fully tested since – disqualifies anyone from public office anyone who swore to defend the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the US.

To that end, it is stinging rebuke for the president’s actions over the US Capitol riots, in which several people died and more than 100 police officers were seriously injured.

Whether Colorado’s decision sticks is yet to be seen. If Trump appeals, the Supreme Court will likely take up the case and, as long as the matter is being litigated, Trump’s name will remain on the Colorado ballot.

US special counsel Jack Smith makes a statement to reporters in Washington about the indictment of Donald Trump.Credit: Reuters

But the predominant school of thought is that it’s highly unlikely a US Supreme Court dominated by conservative judges – three of whom were appointed by Trump himself – would ultimately disqualify a former president and frontrunner for the White House.

What’s more, Trump has never been convicted for inciting an insurrection – indeed, even special counsel Jack Smith stopped short of charging him after a months-long investigation that led to Trump being indicted for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Nonetheless, America once again finds itself in uncharted waters as it heads towards an election that will play out as much in the courtroom as it will on the campaign trail.

Trump has no less than four criminal trials on the horizon: one in Florida over his handling of classified documents; another in New York over alleged hush money payments; one in Georgia for allegedly trying to subvert Joe Biden’s electoral college victory in that state; and one in Washington DC for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election results.

His civil fraud trial in New York also concluded this month with a decision expected at the end of January, and his second defamation trial against E. Jean Carroll begins next month, day after the Iowa caucuses.

Now, the Supreme Court may be forced to intervene in another case that could redefine the contours of the 2024 election – and maybe, yet again, it could end up working in Teflon Don’s favour.

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