It’s a bang in the US election campaign: The Supreme Court of Colorado has banned Donald Trump from taking part in the Republican presidential primary in the state next year. The background is the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. This stipulates that no one may hold public office if he or she has taken part in an “insurrection or insurrection” against the Constitution after taking an oath to defend it.
This is exactly what Trump is accused of for his role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. A group of voters had argued that the ex-president had thereby disqualified himself for the presidential job – and was now proven right by the judges in Colorado. It would be a violation of the Western US state’s election law “to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot,” the ruling said.
However, the judge’s ruling is not final. Ultimately, the question of the applicability of the 14th Amendment, which also concerns the judiciary in several other US states, is likely to end up before the Supreme Court in Washington. Conservative judges have a clear majority there.
Donald Trump has numerous legal problems
The lawsuits over the insurrection article are only indirectly directed against Trump personally. The 77-year-old also has various legal problems on his hands in which he is the direct accused. This involves, for example, hush money payments to a porn actress, sexual abuse and defamation as well as allegations of conspiracy and attempted election fraud. Trump vehemently denies any wrongdoing in all cases and claims that the investigations against him are a political witch hunt by the Democratic Party and biased left-leaning judicial officials.
No former American president has ever had such far-reaching problems with the judiciary as Donald Trump. You can find an overview of the most important lawsuits and proceedings that the Republican is dealing with in the photo series above.