House Speaker blasts Colorado Supreme Court's 'thinly veiled partisan attack' of removing Trump from 2024 ballot

Following a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declaring that Trump is disqualified from being on the state’s primary ballot, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the ruling a "thinly veiled partisan attack."

"Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen registered to vote should not be denied the right to support our former president and the individual who is the leader in every poll of the Republican primary," Johnson wrote on X.

"We trust the US Supreme Court will set aside this reckless decision and let the American people decide the next President of the United States."

An advance sheet headnote on the decision from the state Supreme Court states that "President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution," and that since "he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot." 

It goes on to note that the court will stay its ruling until Jan. 4, 2024, "subject to any further appellate proceedings."

This is the first state to rule that Trump should not be on the ballot, with both Minnesota and Michigan courts dismissing similar lawsuits contesting Trump’s eligibility to be on the lawsuit. 

The Trump team is expected to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court.

The Colorado Republican Party vowed on Tuesday evening to "withdraw from the primary as a party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand.”