The US Supreme Court has struck down efforts by individual states to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president using an anti-insurrection constitutional clause.
The ruling is specific to Colorado, but it also overrides challenges brought in other states.
Colorado had barred Mr Trump from its Republican primary, arguing he incited the 2021 Capitol riot.
The court ruled that only Congress, rather than the states, has that power.
The top court’s unanimous decision clears the way for Mr Trump to compete in the Colorado primary scheduled for Tuesday.
The ex-president immediately claimed victory following the ruling, taking to his Truth Social media platform to claim a “big win for America”. The message was quickly followed by a fundraising email sent to supporters of his campaign.
The watchdog group that brought the case in Colorado, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), said in a statement that while the court’s failure to remove Mr Trump from the ballot is “disappointing”, it is “still a win for democracy: Trump will go down in history as an insurrectionist”.
Two other states, Maine and Illinois , had followed Colorado in kicking Mr Trump off the ballot on similar grounds.
The efforts in both states were put on hold while his challenge to the Colorado ruling was escalated to the Supreme Court.
“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” the court’s opinion says. “But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Sections 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”
The nine justices ruled that only Congress can enforce the 14th Amendment’s provisions against federal officials and candidates.
Source BBC news
