Republicans Are Having a Very Level-Headed Reaction to Trump Being Removed From Colorado Ballot

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot for “[engaging] in an insurrection.” And the GOP is predictably out for blood.

By Kylie Cheung  |  December 20, 2023 | 4:22pm
Photo: Getty Images Politics Donald Trump
Republicans Are Having a Very Level-Headed Reaction to Trump Being Removed From Colorado Ballot

On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a very reasonable ruling that former President Trump should not be allowed on the state’s 2024 ballot, because he “engaged in an insurrection” in the days leading up to and during January 6, 2021. Very fair! The 14th Amendment explicitly bars that sort of thing. But in the hours since this Tuesday night decision, Republicans across the country have predictably been out for blood.

In a stint on Fox News shortly after the decision, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R)—acting like a child whose only comeback is “I know you are but what am I”— declared that President Biden should be removed from Texas’ 2024 ballot. “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 for more than anything anyone else has done in recent history,” he told Laura Ingraham. Masterful gambit, sir—let’s own the libs by making up reasons to do everything that’s done to Trump, to Biden. That ought to get people to stop calling Republicans the party of obstruction.

Believe it or not, Patrick’s response to the news out of Colorado is… not the most insane reaction I’ve seen from Republican leaders. We also have this little Tuesday night vlog from Republican presidential candidate, and retired libertarian rapper, Vivek Ramaswamy, who solemnly “[pledged] to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot.” He added that he’s “[demanding] 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.” Cool! Love it!! While we’re at it, let’s call on Republicans to never run for office in the state of Colorado again, and every current Republican elected official in the state to resign.

No word yet on where DeSantis, Christie, and Haley stand on Ramaswamy’s little unionization effort, but historically, none of these people have been especially pro-union. On Tuesday, Christie said he still needed to read the decision but expressed concern: “I do not think 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.” Haley and DeSantis offered up similar sentiments—a reminder that the Republicans who claim to stand up to Trump are clowns, too.

As for how the rest of the Republican Party is taking the news, I’m disappointed that our very own House Speaker, Mike Johnson, lacked the showmanship to out-crazy Patrick and Ramaswamy. He called the ruling a “a thinly veiled partisan attack,” and said some other flowery words, but no unhinged threats from him as of Wednesday morning. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) took to Twitter to declare that, somehow, not being able to compete in Colorado will “backfire and further strengthen” Trump’s reelection campaign. (Sadly, she may have a point!) Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a Coloradan herself, said she’s confident the Supreme Court will intervene to stop this. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) accused the state of Colorado of *checks notes* trying to “imprison” Trump. And without specifying which judicial precedent, exactly, she’s referring to, Arizona Senate candidate (and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate) Kari Lake claimed the Colorado ruling overturns “over a century of judicial precedent.” OK!!

Trump’s campaign has responded by accusing the Colorado Supreme Court of being a Democratic Party-controlled institution and added, “They [the Democratic Party] 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.” IDK, that first part about “the failed Biden presidency” is a fair point, but that, and the fact that Trump fomented insurrection and shouldn’t be allowed on the ballot, can both be true. We exist in a world of multitudes…

Democratic Party leaders, by contrast, have been celebrating the news. But I’d like to remind them they still have every other state to win in, an increasingly tall task as recent developments have Biden’s poll numbers tanking.

 
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