The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the state of Colorado and others removing former President Donald Trump from their state ballots. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) issued a brief statement in response to the ruling, calling it "a major win against the attempts of election interference by lawfare against Republicans."
Additionally, he scolded "Activist judges in Colorado and other liberal states" who "believe that the American People should not have the right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice."
Politico described how all nine Supreme Court justices agreed only Congress could remove presidential candidates from the ballot under the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which stipulated anyone who had engaged in an insurrection against the government could not run for office. The Amendment was ratified in 1868 to prevent former Confederate officers from assuming office after the Civil War.
This was the justification Colorado, Maine, and Illinois made when they removed Trump, which received ferocious criticism from Republicans, including Rep. Gaetz, a steadfast supporter of Trump's reelection in 2024.
When Colorado first acted against Trump near Christmas, Rep. Gaetz said, "Democrats are trying to imprison their chief political opponent and have now apparently succeeded at removing him from the ballot. This is what dictators do. I’m confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will not allow this egregious ruling to stand. The American people will decide their next president, not activist judges in Colorado."
Early in February, Gaetz led a coalition of 6o Republicans in a resolution exonerating Trump of committing an insurrection on January 6th, 2021, citing the Colorado Supreme Court decision.
"We are here today to authoritatively express that President Trump did not commit an insurrection. And we believe Congress has a unique role in making that declaration. It’s not the job of the states and especially not the job of some bureaucrats in Colorado to make this assessment and interfere with the rights of voters to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice," the Florida Congressman announced.
