‘Purely Partisan Ploy’: Alan Dershowitz Slams Colorado Ruling Removing Trump From Ballot

Former President Donald Trump’s disqualification from the Colorado ballot for the 2024 election is not legitimate, Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz said in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday.

Republicans reacted with outrage on social media following the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Trump could not be on the state’s presidential ballot because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” Dershowitz said the ruling violates the U.S. Constitution and that the justices only made the decision for partisan reasons, necessitating the Supreme Court of the United States to promptly take up the case.

“It’s a scandal. It’s a shame. The justices who wrote this decision ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Dershowitz asserted. “It’s a purely partisan ploy. And the Supreme Court ought to take this up as soon as possible and get us back to the business of electing presidents based on what the people want, not what partisans want and what they can get partisan judges to enact, which clearly violates the explicit terms of the Constitution itself.”

The Colorado Supreme Court reached its decision in a 4-3 ruling, and it is on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court until Jan. 4, according to CNN. The statutory deadline to cement the list of candidates for the Republican primary is Jan. 5.

“Look, the 14th Amendment was intended to prevent people who engage in the Civil War from running, that’s what the purpose was,” Dershowitz added. “If you look at the whole amendment, it talks about the Civil War, it talks about slavery. It’s clearly in context, a one-off. It wasn’t designed to replace the impeachment provisions of the Constitution, as this court absurdly ruled.”

Republished with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation.