A bombshell ruling by Colorado to remove Donald Trump from the state’s primary election ballot will be ‘rocket fuel’ for his chances of winning the White House in a 2024 rematch against Joe Biden, pollsters and pundits predict.
The former president’s son Eric Trump also claimed the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision will increase his father’s frontrunner status in the Republican primary race by at least 5 percent.
It came after a Tuesday night ruling by the state’s highest court that Trump violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment – the Constitution’s so-called ‘insurrection clause’.
The 4-3 decision from Democratic-appointed justices was that Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6 , 2021 and therefore disqualified himself from running for public office.
It is the first time in history that the insurrection clause has been used to prevent a presidential candidate from appearing on a state’s presidential ballot.
But Trump’s campaign plans to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the break-down is six conservative justices to three liberal justices. Three of the sitting justices were appointed by Trump.
Pollsters and political strategists claim that the Colorado Supreme Court ruling will only boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning in 2024
‘Donald Trump thrives on negativity, he thrives on legal systems that try to hold him accountable, And I’m convinced that his polling numbers are going to go up,’ pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz told CNN
High-profile pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz said in an interview Tuesday that the Colorado ruling will have ‘the same impact as his 91 indictments,’ which saw Trump’s poll numbers jump.
‘Trump is now even more likely to beat Biden,’ he predicted in the interview.
Trump is facing felony charges in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida and Georgia related to election interference, mishandling of classified documents and hush money payments.
With each new set of charges, Trump saw boosts to his polling in his already commanding primary race lead.
‘Every time Trump has [h]ad an adverse engagement with the legal system, it has been like rocket fuel with Republican voters because it reinforces his core message that he is (and has been) unfairly treated since the moment he burst on to the scene,’ Republican strategist Scott Jennings said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘Republicans see this in the same way they saw two impeachments, the indictments, the Russia investigation, and all the rest – just another attempt by the elites and the Democrats to stop Trump and his voters from getting a fair shake in an election,’ he added in lining up with Luntz’s take on the latest ruling.
‘For Trump haters, this is like getting drunk at your office Christmas Party,’ Jennings said. ‘It may seem like fun tonight, but you will really, really regret it tomorrow.’
Trump lost Colorado by 13 points to Joe Biden in 2020 and does not need the state to regain the White House in 2024.
However, the stunning Colorado decision will be studied by judges in other must-win states – like Michigan – as they are asked to consider similar cases. Advocacy groups have so far sued to block Trump from the ballot in more than a dozen states, but at least seven of those cases have already failed.
The court claims Trump engaged in an insurrection and therefore under clause 3 of the 14th Amendment is disqualified from running for office. Pictured: Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 – interrupting the joint session of Congress certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win
Luntz wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Colorado has just proven Trump’s theory true that he’s the victim of political persecution.’
‘His poll numbers won’t drop,’ he added. ‘On the contrary, they will rise.’
The Colorado Supreme Court decision means Trump has been taken off the primary ballot in the state – and while the general election was not directly addressed in the case, it would likely extend to November’s contest, as well.
Colorado has nine electoral college votes that have been won by Democratic candidates in the last four general elections. Joe Biden secured the state by a wide margin of 55.4 percent in 2020.
The state will hold its Republican primary election on March 5, or Super Tuesday.
‘All the legal challenges that have been thrown at Trump have so far helped strengthen him in the Republican primary, as he depicts himself as a victim,’ political commentator David Axelrod wrote on X, noting that the Colorado decision ‘will be the same.’
‘What seems like Kryptonite winds up being battery packs in the GOP primary,’ he added.
Those in Trump world also don’t seem too bothered by the ruling, with son Eric writing on X: ‘Prediction: This Colorado decision will add 5%+ points to [Donald Trump] already runaway polls.’
‘Donald Trump thrives on negativity, he thrives on legal systems that try to hold him accountable, And I’m convinced that his polling numbers are going to go up,’ Luntz told CNN on Tuesday evening.
He pointed to a recent poll that shows Trump winning outside the margin of error in five of six key swing states and said ‘the more that he is prosecuted, the more that he is condemned, the higher his numbers go as people rally around him.’
Four justices appointed by Democratic governors, Justices, Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, William W. Hood III and Monica Márquez, all circled, voted to disqualify the former president from Colorado’s presidential primary ballot
The ex-president’s son Eric Trump said the ruling will boost his father’s poll numbers by at least 5 percent
Luntz’s message to judges and the U.S. Justice Department: ‘You’re actually making it more likely that Donald Trump is elected next November by how you are pursuing this.’
He said that the systems need to give better explanations for their decisions and their charges.
The 14th Amendment was approved after the Civil War – the third clause bars officials from seeking future office should they have ‘engaged in insurrection.’
‘A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,’ the court wrote.
Some argue that the court cannot make this ruling because Trump has not yet been convicted of insurrection in any of the several legal cases against him.
A district court ruled that while Trump incited an insurrection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, the provision in the Constitution was unclear whether it was intended to bar candidates for the presidency.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung confirmed Tuesday evening that the ex-president would appeal it to the Supreme Court.
‘We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,’ Cheung said.
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel called the decision ‘election interference’ and said the RNC would also fight it in court.
McDaniel said the RNC’s legal team ‘looks forward to helping fight for a victory.’