Trump has dominated American politics on the Republican side. There is no way to stop him.
Robert Mueller investigated Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 as well as his ties to Russia — a first impeachment followed. Later, when Trump lost the 2020 election and his supporters stormed the Capitol, there was a second impeachment.
Each time Democrats, who view Trump as a mortal threat to American democracy, predicted his imminent political demise. And each time they were disappointed. “Like many people, I assumed every impeachment, every indictment, every criminal count would be the end of him,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich told The New York Times.
Colorado Now
This year, the Democrats got their hopes up again after the former president was indicted on 91 criminal charges. Last week, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump cannot appear on the state’s presidential primary ballot, finding that Trump engaged in action leading to an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, an action viewed as an attack on American democracy.
The Colorado court’s decision, based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, bars Trump from appearing on the Colorado ballot. The case will certainly be appealed and land on the U.S. Supreme Court’s calendar*. If the Supreme Court affirms the Colorado decision, similar cases will follow in other states. At least 15 states, including Michigan, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Nevada, New York and Vermont have already sued to disqualify Trump from the primaries, arguing he is ineligible to hold the country’s highest office.
For any other candidate, criminal charges or a decision like the one in Colorado would damage their reputation and political chances. However, Trump is effectively turning his failures into success. In each instance, Trump presents himself to his conservative supporters as a victim of the system. He is accusing Democrats of conducting a witch hunt and trying to ruin his chances and in turn, endanger democracy. “This vindicates his insistence that this is a political conspiracy to interfere with the election,” said Ty Cobb, former White House lawyer under Trump.
Trump is using this narrative to strengthen his position among supporters and motivate them to donate to his campaign. On the day the Colorado Supreme Court issued its decision, Trump sent a second campaign email seeking donations with a subject heading that read, “Removed from the ballot. You must fight!”**
The same thing happened after each impeachment, each indictment in 2023, and after last week’s Colorado ruling. Trump’s supporters claim that the decision is undemocratic and politically motivated because the Democratic governor nominated the seven members of the Colorado Supreme Court. In fact, only three of the justices are Democrats, the others have no political affiliation and the chief justice is a Republican.
“Out of control radicals would rather spit on our Constitution than let the people decide which candidates should represent them in a free and fair election,” said Dave Williams, chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
Rivals Running Out of Oxygen
Ron DeSantis, Trump’s rival in the Republican primary, recently admitted that Trump’s legal troubles and the attention they are attracting generate support for the former president and make it difficult for other candidates to break through with their message.
“I would say if I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff. It sucked out a lot of oxygen,” DeSantis told the Christian Broadcasting Network.
No force in the Republican camp can stop Trump. During his term, Republican voters and many Republicans in high offices protected him from the consequences of his actions. The Senate’s second impeachment vote, for example, fell 10 votes short of convicting Trump on charges he incited an attack on the Capitol. A majority of Republicans in the Senate found reason to side with him rather than deny him the right to run for federal office in the future.
The situation is similar now. Even Republicans who dislike Trump, as well as his rivals, have criticized the Colorado court’s ruling. “The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse,” DeSantis wrote on social media.
Chris Christie, who is centering his presidential campaign on relentless criticism of the former president, claims that Trump is unfit to hold the office. Yet he says the voters, not the courts, should decide who becomes president.
Editor’s Note: The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Colorado case Feb. 8.
**Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quoted material could not be independently verified.
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