OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump made a big announcement on Friday following the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision last week to remove him from the state’s 2024 ballot, as well as a dire prediction about the future of the United States if the ruling stands.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump announced what his legal team would be doing next.
“We can talk about the Colorado case,” Hewett said to begin the segment. “I think that is a joke, the biggest joke I’ve seen from a state court ever. Have you already appealed it?”
“We’re in the process of doing it. Everybody thinks exactly what you’re saying,” Trump said. “They’re trying to take the election away from the voters. And this is the same group, I guess it’s true. I’ve beaten them about 20 times. I beat them on emoluments.
“They sued me, they sue on anything. It’s a group of radical left lunatics. And they sue any time they can, and this one is really a crazy one. And if they ever did that, it would be so bad for this country, you have no idea. And you understand it would be, it would be a big problem for the country,” the former president added.
“Oh, I think it will be a 9-0 reversal. I hope it comes today. But I want to make sure you appealed,” the host responded.
“Well, I hope so, too,” Trump said. “I think that’s the kind of reversal. It should not be given any credit, not even the credit of one Supreme Court justice.”
Hewitt is not the only one who believes that the Supreme Court will smack down the Colorado decision. A former federal prosecutor predicted this week that the U.S. Supreme Court will handily overturn a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to boot Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot.
Ty Cobb, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland — who defended the Trump administration during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s baseless investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion — told CNN that though he thinks Trump’s actions in challenging the 2020 election have been a “disaster” for the GOP, he believes the nation’s highest court will unanimously reverse the decision in Colorado.
“I think this case will be handled quickly,” the longtime attorney said. “I think it could be 9-0 in the Supreme Court for Trump.
Here’s a partial transcript of the segment, per Grabien:
ERIN BURNETT: “I want to go to Ty Cobb now, the former Trump White House lawyer. So, Ty, 133 pages, and then you have the three dissents, which I’m trying to work my way through here. From what you’ve seen, what do you take away?”
COBB: “So, I — the way I see this is — is that the Supreme Court has to take this. They can stay the dates in Colorado. They’ll move expeditiously. I was struck by the majority opinion and the amount of verbiage devoted to the sort of strawman arguments. You know, the real key issue in this case is, is Trump an officer of the United States in the context in which that term is used in Article 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“And in 2010, Chief Justice Roberts explained in Free Enterprise that people don’t vote for officers of the United States. Article 2, ‘officers of the United States,’ is commonly understood in the Constitution to refer to appointed officials. And to the extent that the president or the vice president are included as an officer or included within the admonitions of the Constitution, they are typically highlighted, like in the impeachment clause, which specifically says president, vice president.
“So I think this case will be handled quickly. I think it could be 9-0 in the Supreme Court for Trump.”
BURNETT: “Can I just say, Ty, that would be — I don’t ever like about who appointed whom because you like to just believe in the impartiality of justice, but nonetheless, it has become important. And as Trump is already pointing out, ‘Oh, the Colorado Supreme Court, they were all appointed by Democrats,’ okay, sure.
“It was a 4-3 ruling. They didn’t all rule against you. Supreme Court, when we often hear about how politicized it is — and I know we’re looking into the distance here, but if you’re looking at 9-0, that would sure be a statement.”
COBB: “Yeah. So, I do believe it could be 9-0 because the law is therein. And, as you’ll recall, I was once an advocate of this position, and there have been multiple law review articles, the most prominent by Bill Boyd and his colleague. I was on a panel with Professor Boyd at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics discussing this, and I heard his views and his scholarship is excellent.
