OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
According to CNN and NYT journalist Maggie Haberman, former President Trump is “not happy” about being linked to a “charge of insurrection,” but his camp sees the Colorado ballot ban as “a gift.”
In an interview with CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Haberman discussed the decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump’s name from the state’s ballot for the 2024 presidential election, asserting that the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” disqualifies him from running for president.
Following the verdict, Haberman shared her well-researched thoughts on Trumpworld and claimed that Trump’s advisors regard the decision as a “gift” that will benefit his 2024 campaign.
Collins asked Habberman: “Maggie, I noted Trump was just on stage, in Waterloo. He did not mention this decision, on stage, there. But what are you hearing, from Trump insiders, about the reaction, to the ruling, tonight.”
Habberman responded: “They generally see it, Kaitlan, as a gift. I mean, Trump is not happy about any of these cases, particularly cases that tie him, to a charge of insurrection. But they see the way that they anticipate this will play out. As you know, they are going to appeal. They’re going to ask the Supreme Court to take it up. The Supreme Court doesn’t have to. If they don’t, it’s basically affirming the decision, which I think becomes complicated, although they could obviously always affirm it.”
“They feel pretty good about their chances that it will get overturned. And either way, they see this as something that they can use, to argue that he is being victimized. It’s something that’s easy, for voters, to understand, Kaitlan, which is, effort to throw someone off the ballot. Some of these legal cases, the criminal cases that he’s facing are more complicated,” Habberman added.
She concluded, “So again, none of this, in the aggregate, is the kind of news that most people would like. But somehow, every time Donald Trump gets a piece of legal news, that in normal times would be problematic, it has had a rallying effect, on his supporters.”
According to Ty Cobb, a former assistant US attorney for the District of Maryland, the 2024 presidential election in Colorado will not include former president Donald Trump because the US Supreme Court would overturn the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court.
While believing that Trump’s actions in challenging the 2020 election have been a “disaster” for the Republican Party, Cobb, who defended the Trump administration during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s baseless investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, argued during an interview on CNN that the U.S. Supreme 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.
“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,” Cobb said.
He added: “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.”
