Donald Trump's defiance in the face of mounting legal challenges including the latest from the Colorado Supreme Court suggests the US is "teetering closer to the brink of civil war," an expert has warned.
A divided Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former President is ineligible for the White House under the Constitution's insurrection clause - Section 3 of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment.
The ruling only mentions the state's primary election on March 5, which is when Republican voters will choose their favorite candidate. So far former President Trump is by far the frontrunner.
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Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright (AP)Professor Inderjeet Parmar, head of the Department of International Politics at City, University of London, explained to The Mirror how this paints an alarming picture for the US' future.
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He said: "What the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled is another first for Donald Trump in his lengthening CV of shame. That he remains so popular in the GOP electorate says a lot about a system that is in deep crisis, divided, unstable, unpredictable and teetering closer to the brink of civil war."
Trump being escorted into a courtroom as part of one of his many legal challenges (AP)The law cited by Colorado's highest state court was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to "support" the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War. This is the first time its been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
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Attorney Eric Olson, far right, argues before the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 (AP)This is just the latest legal challenge facing the Republican frontrunner and sets up a showdown in the Republican majority Supreme Court. But it also shows no sign of slowing Trump's campaign down.
Professor Parmar said: "Up to now, court cases and rulings have energized the Trump campaign and made his core voters determined to back him and move away from the rest of the GOP field in regard to the primaries. He is the most popular GOP candidate by far."
Already Trump's campaign has leapt on the ruling to help fundraise. An email to supporters from the Trump campaign, appealing for donations, read: "Crooked Joe and the Democrats know they can't beat us at the ballot box, so their new plan is to nullify every single 'Trump ballot' in the nation to keep Biden in the White House."
The Trump campaign has used the legal ruling to rally his followers (AP)The good professor also made a prediction about what will happen when it reaches the country's supreme court. He said: "The chances are that the US Supreme Court will have a tough time, likely be split, but a majority in favor of Trump is likely. Whatever the decision, there will be a minority report too. And whatever the decision, it will wreak havoc in an already factionalised political environment."
The law cited by Colorado's Supreme Court hasn't been used since the decades following the last Civil War.
It states: "No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
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