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Colorado’s supreme court has barred Donald Trump from being included as a candidate in the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
The court on Tuesday said Trump was not fit to be president under the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits individuals who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding office. Trump therefore could not be added to the ballot, the court said.
Trump is the clear frontrunner in the Republican race to be the party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the Colorado justices wrote in their opinion. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favour, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
The Trump campaign said the order was “completely flawed” and that it would “swiftly file” an appeal against it with the US Supreme Court as well as a request to block the Colorado decision. Lawyers representing Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.