The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared reluctant to take the extraordinary step of allowing states to keep former President Trump from appearing on the ballot this fall, after multiple states have attempted to remove him citing the 14th Amendment.
It’s not clear when the high court will come down with a ruling, but both sides have sought an expedited decision because of the looming November election.
“It’s about the vote. It’s about our Constitution,” Trump said in a radio interview Thursday morning with The John Fredericks Show. “You can’t take the vote away from the people. That would be so bad for democracy, so bad for our country.”
Justices largely focused on potential arguments that would doom the states’ arguments without requiring the justices to determine whether Trump engaged in inciting insurrection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that sought to stop the certification of President Biden‘s election.
Liberal and conservative justices seemed skeptical of the case brought by a group of Colorado voters trying to push Trump out of the election.
“What’s a state doing deciding who other citizens get to vote for president?” said Justice Elena Kagan.
Chief Justice John Roberts also raised the potential for the system to spiral out of control if the court says Trump can be disqualified. Other states could retaliate by pushing Democratic candidates off the ballot, he said.
“That’s a pretty daunting consequence,” Roberts said.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December that Trump is disqualified from running there, setting up the battle on the national stage.
