Kinzinger says he’s ‘mixed’ on Trump 14th Amendment ruling in Colorado

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) weighed in on the Colorado Supreme Court’s disqualification of former President Trump from the state’s ballot, saying that he’s “mixed” on what it could mean.

Kinzinger argued Wednesday that the bombshell ruling will likely feed into Trump’s narrative while also deferring judgment to the courts.

“I’m mixed from a political perspective, and that’s of course how I say [and] think of things. That’s my background. I think this is probably good for Donald Trump,” Kinzinger said during an interview with CNN. “And [it] probably … builds into that whole narrative of the ‘whole system’s after me, and everybody wants to get me.'”

“But the thing I struggle with, and the reason I guess I can’t give a definitive answer, is the Constitution exists for a reason,” he continued. “Now, as you know, [I’m] not a constitutional lawyer, I have to leave it up to the judges and ultimately the Supreme Court to decide what the 14th Amendment means when it comes to Donald Trump.”

His comments come just a day after the Centennial State’s high court ruled that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol should prevent him from being on the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause — citing his false claims of election fraud and rallying of supporters before the insurrection. The clause states that those who previously took oaths to support the Constitution cannot participate in a rebellion against it.

The court’s 4-3 ruling overturns a lower court argument that the office of the presidency does not fall under this clause.

Kinzinger, one of two Republicans that sat on the House’s Jan. 6 select committee that looked into the riots, pushed back against arguments that the ruling or eligibility requirements are “anti-democratic.”

“These things were put into place not because they’re anti-democratic, but because … they knew — the founders, the writers, the authors of the amendments — that at some point, there would be a moment maybe where public pressure wanted them to do something, and they put these guardrails in place to say, ‘No, you can’t,'” he said Wednesday.

While the former lawmaker said he cannot give a “definitive answer” on his reaction to the ruling, Kinzinger said he believes “it’s going to be really bad for politics, probably good for Donald Trump.”

“But I’m still like, kind of back-and-forth on this idea of, the Constitution exists for a reason and Donald Trump undoubtedly performed an insurrection,” he said. “I think we showed that on the Jan. 6 committee, and for 187 minutes, he watched it unfold and did absolutely nothing, only to act when he saw that law enforcement was able to turn the tide against them.”

Kinzinger has previously said Trump is “absolutely guilty” of a crime surrounding the riots.

Earlier Tuesday, former federal judge Michael Luttig also argued that Colorado’s ruling is not anti-democratic, but rather Trump’s conduct that led up to this point was anti-democratic.

A slew of GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates also railed against the decision, claiming it is an illegal attempt by Democrats to prevent Trump from clinching the 2024 general election.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s seven-member bench was entirely appointed by Democratic governors. Six of them have won retention elections, and a seventh will run to do so next year.

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign said the decision could be blamed on the “all-democratic appointed” court, and vowed to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices nominated by Trump.