Axelrod slams effort to keep Trump off the ballot: ‘It worries me’

CNN commentator David Axelrod, who served as an adviser during the Obama administration, slammed efforts by several states to keep former President Trump off the ballot in 2024, saying it would be “very disruptive” and “create a huge reaction.”

“I think it will create a huge reaction. And that worries me. It worries me partly because of Donald Trump,” Axelrod said.

Axelrod went pointed out the doubt Americans already had in government institutions prior to the effort to kick Trump off the ballot due to the insurrectionist clause in the 14th Amendment.

“There’s so much cynicism about our institutions already. And the strength of our democracy are these institutions. You can argue that’s why you have to go the way the Colorado court suggests,” Axelrod said.

The Supreme Court agreed to take up whether Trump can be disqualified from the ballot in Colorado over his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Oral arguments are scheduled to begin Thursday.

“I’m not here as an apologist for Donald Trump, and I’m certainly not here as a lawyer, but I’m sure that one of the things the Supreme Court has to consider is, what is the impact of a decision like that.”

“I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if the Supreme Court said, ‘We’re removing the front-running Republican candidate from the ballot,’ and essentially say to the American people, ‘You won’t have the opportunity to vote for him.'”

Dozens of challenges to Trump’s eligibility have been filed nationwide, but most have been rejected by lower courts.

Two states have removed Trump from their ballots to date: Colorado and Maine.