Independent presidential candidate Cornel West weighed in on this week’s ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 ballots by urging caution, not celebration, and suggesting the decision could lead to adverse electoral consequences in the future.
West issued a statement on Wednesday about the surprise ruling one day earlier and suggested it may not be as advantageous to Democrats, who welcomed the decision, as it may seem to be.
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“We must be very careful in celebrating this decision by the CO Supreme Court,” West said in part of a statement posted to his social media channels.
In case you missed it, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump can’t appear on state ballots for the 2024 election because the 14th Amendment precludes anyone who participated in an insurrection from doing so. The Colorado Supreme Court pointed to Trump’s documented behavior before and during the infamous Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021, as the U.S. Senate was certifying Joe Biden’s presidency. Notably, Trump encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell” or else, he warned, “you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Such actions encouraging violence prevent Trump from being on the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded.
But West – who’s shown in the latest national poll garnering 3% of the vote in a close contest that gives the edge to Trump over Biden – suggested that ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court may have been a grave political misstep.
“It’s true that brother Trump is a bonafide gangster and neofascist who must be held accountable,” West continued. “At the same time, we don’t want the courts deciding the outcome of elections – this power must reside with and for the people.”
West went on to suggest that it would be foolhardy to base a political strategy on hopes that other states will follow…
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