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US Supreme Court rules in favour of Donald Trump, keeps him on 2024 primary ballots

The US Supreme Court gave a big boost to former US President Donald Trump on Monday, when it decided that the former president can stay on the Republican primary ballot in Colorado.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump can appear on this year’s ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court said he was disqualified from being president again and ineligible for the state’s primary. (Photo by Alon Skuy / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)

The state’s top court had tried to kick him off the ballot, using the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which says that anyone who has been involved in an insurrection can’t hold public office.

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Trump has been accused of stirring up and backing the violent crowd that attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a desperate attempt to stop the 2020 presidential election (which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden).

The former President was overjoyed by the Supreme Court’s ruling, he posted on his Truth Social platform, “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”.

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The presidential hopeful is likely to face Biden again in the November election.

Supreme Court blocks state efforts to disqualify Trump from presidential ballot

The Supreme Court’s ruling also puts an end to similar efforts in other states, such as Illinois and Maine, to disqualify Trump from the ballot based on the 14th Amendment, which states that no one can hold US office, including the presidency, if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.

However, the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority of 6-3, clarified that only Congress has the authority to enforce this provision against federal officeholders and candidates.

The court said in an unsigned opinion, “We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”

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The ruling came a day before Super Tuesday, the day when most states hold their presidential primaries and caucuses.

The 45th US President is also facing two criminal cases related to his attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election: one in a federal court in Washington, DC, and another in a state court in Georgia.

He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the prosecutors are pursuing a politically motivated witch-hunt to stop his re-election bid.

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