Ramaswamy backs Trump after Colorado SC ruling, threatens to exit GOP primary if former president not reinstated

Soon after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Donald Trump from the ballot in the state’s presidential election next year over his role in the US Capitol attack, Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday pledged to withdraw from the Colorado primary ballot if the former President was not reinstated.

Taking to X, Ramaswamy said, “I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately - or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country.”

I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately - or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous… pic.twitter.com/qbpNf9L3ln

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 20, 2023

He further said, “This is what an actual attack on democracy looks like: in an un-American, unconstitutional, and unprecedented decision, a cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado. Having tried every trick in the book to eliminate President Trump from running in this election, the bipartisan Establishment is now deploying a new tactic to bar him from ever holding office again: the 14th Amendment.”

He criticized the bipartisan establishment for using the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running in the election.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday disqualified former President Donald Trump from the ballot in the state’s presidential election next year over his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

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The ruling makes Trump the first presidential candidate in US history to be deemed ineligible for the White House under a rarely used provision of the U. Constitution that bars officials who have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.

The court concluded that the US Constitution bars the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024 from appearing on the ballot because of his role in instigating violence against the US government.

The ruling applies only to the state’s March 5 Republican primary, but its conclusion would likely also affect Trump’s status for the November 5 general election. Nonpartisan US election forecasters view Colorado as safely Democratic, meaning that President Joe Biden will likely carry the state regardless of Trump’s fate.

The case was brought by a group of Colorado voters, aided by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who argued that Trump should be disqualified for inciting his supporters to attack the Capitol in a failed attempt to obstruct the transfer of presidential power to Biden after the 2020 election.

Trump’s campaign called the court decision “flawed” and “undemocratic,” and said it would be appealed.

“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,” a spokesperson from the Trump campaign said.

Trump’s campaign has condemned 14th Amendment challenges as an attempt to deny millions of voters their preferred choice for president.

With inputs from agencies