As the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday heard two hours of arguments in a Colorado case to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot, Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that if he's pulled, other states would eventually do the same to other candidates.
He added, would be inconsistent with the history and purpose of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, coming about two months after Colorado's Supreme Court ruled the former president could be barred from the state's ballot under a provision of that amendment.
"I would expect that a goodly number of states will say: 'Whoever the Democratic candidate is, you're off the ballot,'" the chief justice added, speaking to Jason Murray, the lawyer representing several voters who sued to keep the former president from appearing on the Colorado ballot.
Justice Roberts asked Jonathan Mitchell, President Trump's attorney, whether a state's top elections official could disqualify a candidate who comes forward and says he took the oath mentioned in the provision and engaged in an insurrection.
Days after the Colorado court ruling, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows barred President Trump from its ballot, a decision on hold pending the Supreme Court's ruling.
The lawyers of Colorado voters who sued to remove President Trump's name from the Colorado ballot claimed that there is ample evidence that the events of Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection and that President Trump incited it.
President Trump could be back before the Supreme Court in a matter of days to seek an emergency order to keep his election subversion trial on hold so he can appeal lower-court rulings that he is not immune from criminal charges.
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