The Colorado Supreme Court has banned Trump from participating in the Republican primaries

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump should be disqualified from holding the presidency and removed from the state’s ballot in the upcoming presidential election because of his role in inciting violence against the U.S. government in 2021.

The decision could be the first time in the nation’s history that a presidential candidate is potentially disqualified from occupying the White House under the rarely used 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted after the Civil War and barring from office anyone who once took the oath of office but then “participated in rebellion or insurrection.”

The Colorado court’s ruling applies only to the Republican primary, which will be held in the state on March 5. Still, the court’s ruling will likely affect Trump’s status in the Nov. 5 general election.

The Colorado court said the ruling is on hold until Jan. 4, 2024, to allow for an appeal.

Trump’s campaign has already called the court’s decision “flawed” and “undemocratic” and said it will appeal.

“The Colorado Supreme Court made a completely erroneous decision today, and we will quickly appeal to the Supreme Court and concurrently ask for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” a Trump campaign spokesman said. He denounced the use of the 14th Amendment as an attempt to deny millions of voters the choice of president.

Trump’s lawyer argued that the unrest at the Capitol was not serious enough to qualify as a riot and that Trump’s remarks to his supporters in Washington that day were protected by his right to free speech. The lawyer argued that the courts have no authority to require Trump to be removed from the ballot.

Trump’s opponents hope to use the case to galvanize a broader effort to disqualify him and bring the issue before the Supreme Court. However, the majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices are conservatives, with three being Trump’s own appointees.

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