Former President Donald Trump has formally appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court over the Colorado Supreme Court ruling to remove him from that state's Republican presidential primary ballot.
"Democrats are obsessively violating the American voters' Constitutional right to vote for the candidate of their choice," Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Wednesday in a statement to Newsmax. "This is an un-American, unconstitutional act of election interference which cannot stand. We urge a clear, summary rejection of the Colorado Supreme Court's wrongful ruling and the execution of a free and fair election this November."
Colorado's high court ruled last month that Trump was ineligible to appear on the state's GOP primary ballot, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies from office those who engage in insurrection against the Constitution after taking an oath to support it. The court cited Trump's alleged involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, but Trump has never been charged with insurrection and has denied any responsibility for the events that occurred that day.
The Colorado Republican Party appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, and Trump was expected to soon follow. The ruling has been on hold pending appeal.
In the 34-page motion filed Wednesday, Trump attorneys Scott Gessler and Harmeet Dhillon wrote, "The Colorado Supreme Court has no authority to deny President Trump access to the ballot."
"By doing so, the Colorado Supreme Court has usurped Congressional authority and misinterpreted and misapplied the text of Section 3," the motion stated. "The questions presented in this Petition are of the utmost importance.
"President Trump is the leading candidate for the nomination for President of the United States of one of two major political parties. In 2020, President Trump received more than 74 million votes nationally, and more than 1.3 million votes in Colorado alone, to be re-elected as President of the United States.
"Thus, the Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide."
The motion noted Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows last week disqualifying Trump from that state's primary ballot, citing the same reason as Colorado's Supreme Court. Trump has appealed that decision in state court, but the Supreme Court's decision could impact the former president's status in that state.
"Congress — not a state court — is the proper body to resolve questions concerning a presidential candidate's eligibility," the motions stated. "First, the Constitution provides a role for Congress in resolving disputed presidential elections. … The election of the President of the United States is a national matter, with national implications that arises solely under the federal Constitution and does not implicate the inherent or retained authority of the states."
The attorneys also argued that Section 3 does not apply to the office of the presidency. The section only mentions an "elector" to president or vice president, but not the office itself. The section was created to apply to those who served for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
The motion also asked the Supreme Court to strike down the ruling by Colorado's high court that Trump engaged in an insurrection because the events of Jan. 6 "were not ‘insurrection' as that term is used in Section 3."