Trump Responds to Supreme Court Ballot Eligibility Hearing

With the U.S. Supreme Court weighing his eligibility for the presidential primary ballot, former President Donald Trump said he considers efforts to disqualify him to be “more election interference by the Democrats.”

His comments followed a hearing in which the nation’s high court heard oral arguments for and against his name’s appearance on the ballot in Colorado, where the state’s Supreme Court has ruled him ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

Speaking with reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, President Trump described the judicial process as “a beautiful thing to watch,” though unfortunate.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to go through a thing like that. I consider it to be more election interference by the Democrats—that’s what they’re doing. The good news is we’re leading in virtually every poll,” he said.

“I hope that democracy in this country will continue because, right now, we have a very, very tough situation with all of the radical left ideas, with the weaponization of politics,” he added.

“They’ve weaponized it like it’s never been weaponized before. It’s totally illegal, but they do it anyway.”

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The specific question before the Court is whether the Colorado Supreme Court erred in ruling that the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause bars President Trump from the ballot because he “engaged in insurrection” against the United States by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

During the hearing, an argument raised by Jason Murray, an attorney for President Trump’s challengers, was that his public statements that day contributed to the “insurrection.”

President Trump disagrees with the characterization of the breach as an insurrection. But even if were an insurrection, he argued, it was “caused by Nancy Pelosi,” not him.

Pointing to the tweets he posted shortly after the violence broke out that day, he said: “If you take a look at those five or six tweets, you will see very beautiful, very heartwarming statements. ‘Go home,’ ‘the police are doing their job,’ … beautiful statements.”

He also cited his speech, which urged protesters to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard.

“[Murray] said I said bad statements, but it was the exact opposite. So, I think you should take a look at the statements that I made before and after and you’ll see a whole different dialogue.”