The Colorado Republican Party has vowed to move to a caucus system if the state’s Supreme Court keeps Donald Trump off the GOP primary ballot.
The group made the statement in response to Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy saying he would withdraw from the state primary if Trump was not included on the ballot.
“I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country,” Ramaswamy said on X.
Describing the 14th Amendment, Ramaswamy stated, “This was a provision, Section 3, that was designed to bar Confederate members,” adding, “That’s very different than what’s at issue here, to say the least.”
“The basic principle that ‘we the people’ select our leadership, not the unelected elite class in the backs of palace halls. That’s old-world Europe, not the United States.”
Ramaswamy’s pledge to withdraw from the state primary prompted the Colorado GOP to respond, “You won’t have to because we will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand.”
On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court banned Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 election ballot.
The 4-3 decision overturned a ruling from a district court judge, although the state’s Supreme Court noted that the district court “did not err in concluding that President Trump ‘engaged in’ that insurrection through his personal actions.”
“President Trump’s speech inciting the crowd that breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not protected by the First Amendment,” the ruling said.
“[W]e conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot,” the court wrote.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the court noted. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
