The Colorado ruling against Trump may not be the victory advocates perceive it to be

Writer Damon Linker, who pens the Substack newsletter "Notes from the Middleground," is a senior lecturer in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center's Open Society Project. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. For more opinions, visit CNN.

The decision by the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state's presidential ballot is incredibly unwise.

Damon Linker

As someone who sees Trump as an aspiring authoritarian and a serious threat to American democracy, I am concerned that many who share my views believe that the former President can be stopped by invoking a clause in the Constitution that was intended to bar members of an armed rebellion from holding office. This was evident with the lawyers who supported the argument that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment should prevent Trump from running, and the Colorado judges who were swayed by this argument.

This is merely an illusion. Trump is fundamentally a political issue, meaning he can only be defeated in the political realm. Attempts to bring him down through other avenues will only serve to strengthen him.

From the start of his rise in politics, Trump has abided by the rules of populist politics. The populist positions himself as the outraged, rebellious protector of ordinary people against those who represent the political, cultural, journalistic, and legal establishments. The populist labels them as corrupt, accusing them of manipulating the system for their own gain. He asserts that they will go to any lengths to maintain their unjust power and privileges.

The confrontational approach of populist opposition has the effect of flipping the norms of regular democratic politics. For a traditional politician, a criminal indictment is a significant issue, a setback that can ruin a career in public office. But for a politician like Trump, an indictment can be an opportunity because it confirms the populist narrative: See, they see me as such a powerful threat that they're threatening to throw me in jail just to get me to stop fighting for you. But they can't intimidate me. Together, we will achieve retribution!

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023.

Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images

Title: The Validity of Disqualifying Trump in Colorado

Trump has effectively utilized this political strategy. In late March, just before facing his initial indictment in New York City, Trump was surpassing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in GOP primary polls by a margin of 15 points - a notable but not unsurpassable lead. However, within three weeks, that lead had increased to 30 points. After four months and additional indictments, Trump's lead had grown to 40 points. Presently, he is ahead by nearly 50 points.

He has also started fundraising over the Colorado ruling, highlighting that the four judges who voted to remove Trump's name from the ballot were appointed by Democrats. Many of the approximately 63% of Republicans who still support the former president do so based on his false claims about the "stolen" 2020 election. They believe that President Joe Biden won through fraud covered up by Democratic-aligned election officials, that the January 6, 2021 insurrection was a patriotic effort to resist Biden's alleged power grab, and that partisan prosecutors are trying to unfairly imprison Trump as he seeks to defend himself and his cause.

It's unfortunate that a large portion of the American electorate has been influenced by a demagogue's delusions. But what's even more troubling is providing those misled voters with evidence to support their belief that influential individuals in American public life (such as constitutional lawyers and state Supreme Court judges appointed by Democrats) are actively trying to deny them the chance to express their political opinions at the ballot box.

President Donald Trump arrives at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Title: Why Trump Shouldn't be Disqualified by the 14th Amendment

The decision in Colorado not only prevents Trump from being on primary ballots in the state, but it also prohibits the secretary of state from tallying write-in votes for the former president.

There is no need to be a populist to see what's going on: most of the Republican voters want Trump to be their nominee, but the powerful figures in our system have decided to prevent it. This has only occurred in Colorado so far, but it is likely that courts in other states will also take similar actions. This series of events is very likely to damage the legitimacy of the judicial branch among Republican voters, and for valid reasons. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter for more updates.

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A guilty verdict must also establish that those actions constituted acts covered by the relevant section of the 14th Amendment. Without this, any attempt to overrule the preferences of Republican voters will be rightly judged an illegitimate power grab. Democracy cannot be vindicated by abrogating democracy. The best outcome of this episode would be for the US Supreme Court to swiftly and unambiguously strike down the Colorado ruling, making it clear that no state will be permitted to disqualify Trump from seeking or holding the office of the presidency. Trump and his populist style of politics can't be defeated by lawyers and judges, only by beating him at the ballot box. The time and place to declare Trump disqualified from holding high office was at the conclusion of his second impeachment trial, conducted by elected officials of both parties in the US Senate in the weeks following January 6. Fearing the wrath of the voters, insufficient numbers of Republican senators were willing to convict him. This was a terrible mistake with potentially disastrous consequences. But that doesn't mean a handful of judges in states dominated by Democrats have the legitimacy to reverse course by forbidding Republican voters from casting ballots for their preferred candidate, especially before Trump has been found guilty in a court of law for acts committed in the days leading up to and on January 6.