Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) reacted to the Supreme Court ruling that reinstates him in the primary process in all states, saying: “It’s a great victory for the United States.”
“GREAT VICTORY FOR THE UNITED STATES!!!,” wrote the former president, favorite for the Republican nomination ahead of the November presidential elections, on his website, Truth Social.
The US Supreme Court decided this Monday, March 4, to reinstate former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in the Republican primary process for the November elections, rejecting attempts by states such as Colorado and Maine to hold him accountable for the assault on the Capitol.
These are the keys to the ruling and its implications for the November elections, in which Trump could face President Joe Biden again, candidate for the Democratic Party.
End to attempts by some states to oust Trump
The Supreme Court ruling, adopted unanimously, puts an end to attempts by Colorado, Illinois and Maine to remove Trump, the favorite to be the candidate in November, from the Republican Party primary process.
All of those states had argued that Trump could not compete in the elections because his involvement in the 2021 assault on the Capitol amounted to an attempted “insurrection,” which in theory disqualified him from holding public office as established in Section 3 of the Amendment 14 of the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868 after the Civil War, was intended to prevent rebellious Southerners of the Confederacy, who had sworn allegiance to the Constitution and then betrayed it, from gaining power.
In its ruling this Monday, March 4, the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, determined that states cannot invoke Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to prevent a candidate from competing in elections and that that power resides solely in Congress. .
In this way, the highest court reversed an unprecedented ruling issued in December by the Colorado Supreme Court preventing Trump from running in that state’s Republican primaries, which will be held tomorrow, Tuesday.
In the following months, Maine and Illinois also used Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the ballots in their states.
Implications for the November elections
Although The nine justices of the Supreme Court agreed that states cannot resort to an old clause to prevent Trump from running in the primaries, There are different opinions within the highest court about the scope of that decision.
In a separate document, progressive justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson considered that Trump is an “insurrectionist who has violated his oath” and argued that there must be other mechanisms, apart from Congress, to prevent a candidate like him from participating. In the elections.
In any case, the scope of the ruling is limited because it refers only to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Therefore, if some of the 50 US states resort to other legal loopholes to exclude Trump from the primaries or the presidential elections in November, they could theoretically do so, although the Supreme Court would again have the final say.
The immunity case and other litigation
The Supreme Court’s decision is a boost for Trump, who later gave a speech at his Florida mansion to praise the Supreme Court’s “unifying decision” and argue that “a president needs to be free” to hold office.
However, the ruling does not mean the end of their legal problems. On April 22, the Supreme Court itself plans to hear the arguments of the parties on whether Trump can be tried for electoral interference in the 2020 presidential elections or if he has immunity.
The Supreme Court’s decision will directly affect two cases: one in Washington DC for the assault on the Capitol and another in Georgia, in which the Prosecutor’s Office accuses Trump of trying to subvert the 2020 electoral results in that state, in which he lost by a narrow margin against Biden.
In addition, Trump faces two other lawsuits: one in New York for alleged irregular payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and another in Florida for improper handling of classified material.
Before the ‘supermarts’
The ruling has acquired special relevance as it arrives before ‘Super Tuesday’, a crucial day in the race to the White House, since 15 states, including Colorado, hold primaries.
In total, 865 delegates will be elected, which represents 35.6% of the total. So far, Trump has 244 delegates obtained in the primaries and the ‘caucuses’ held so far (he has won in all of them except Washington DC), so tomorrow he could get closer to the 1,215 needed to secure the nomination.
The only one left in the running to contest Trump’s nomination is the former governor of California Nikki Haley, with very little chance.
#big #victory