With less than a month to go before voting begins, Donald Trump‘s Republican rivals are once again rallying to his defense, this time after Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled to remove him from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause.
Just as they had following Trump’s successive indictments as he racked up 91 criminal charges, the GOP front-runner’s opponents cast the landmark decision — the first time in history the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate and one the former president has vowed to appeal — as inappropriate, a “stunt” and an “attack on democracy.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis charged the court’s ruling was a plot to ensure Trump wins the nomination because Democrats view him as the weakest Republican candidate.
What a weird ass primary. For anyone else they’d be leaping to take advantage of this ruling to take down the front-runner. Here they’re defending the guy they’re supposedly running against. They just seem like they’re the back-up candidates in case Trump gets arrested finally OR they’re really just running for the VP position, since Pence obviously isn’t getting picked up again.
I think they know that they can’t beat DJT in the normal process. They also know that if DJT gets sent to prison and they’re the nominee, DJT voters are very likely to stay home (and will be positively vengeful if the candidate had criticized DJT on the way out).
They (well, Haley and DeSantis) are in my judgment sticking as close as they can to DJT while desperately hoping that Scowling Jack Smith takes Trump down before the election.
they’re the back-up candidates in case Trump gets arrested finally OR they’re really just running for the VP position, since Pence obviously isn’t getting picked up again.
Exactly. That’s what this charade is ACTUALLY about.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis charged the court’s ruling was a plot to ensure Trump wins the nomination because Democrats view him as the weakest Republican candidate.
The amount of sheer illogic needed to make each Republican the victim of a Democrat plot is hilarious.
Remember when telling people to get COVID shots was a Democratic plot to kill Republicans because Democrats knew they’d just do the opposite of whatever they were told?
Same thing here.
Fun fact: it’s still killing #GOP suckers disproportionately.
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Yeah, what better way to ensure victory than to restrict ballot access? Let’s test that theory by letting both him and DeSantis be on the ballot only in Mississippi!
I wonder how he squares the fact that the petitioners were Republicans and independents - you know, people who are qualified to vote in the Republican primary.
He doesn’t have to. Republicans have never allowed the truth to get in the way of a good victimhood narrative before. Why start now?
The only requirement to vote in the Republican Primary is “I think I’d like to vote in the Republican Primary this year.”
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/FAQs/primaryElectionsFAQ.html
Q2. Who can vote in a Primary Election?
A2. During either the Presidential or June primary:
- Voters affiliated with a major party: may cast a ballot for candidates of the party they are affiliated with.
- Voters affiliated with a minor party: if there is a minor party contest those affiliated with that minor party may cast a ballot for those candidates.
- Unaffiliated voters: An unaffiliated voter may cast a ballot for any one political party. If an unaffiliated voter returns a ballot with more than one political party, the ballot will be rejected and none of the votes will be counted.
If you are registered with a specific party, you may not vote in another party’s primary in the state of Colorado, even if you “think you’d like to.”
Ok. Let’s assume I am, in fact, currently registered as a Democrat. Am I never allowed to change that affiliation?
Oh, I can change that affiliation?
What are the requirements to change my party affiliation again? Is “I think I’d like to vote in the Republican Primary” a sufficient reason?
That’s fair. But it’s also true that the actual Republican petitioners in the case (five of the seven) are very long time Republicans who have been notable in party politics in the state.
Now go look at hard it is to change your registered party in Colorado. It takes about 5 minutes. And I think the only thing it really affects for most people is which primary they vote in. So while there’s one more step than “think you’d like to” it’s not by much.
I see DeSantis’s statements as a grifter testing new material. They already know most of their base can be won over by strong man talk and logical fallacies because Trump won using both. Here, DeSantis is pushing even further outside of logic to see if his marks will swallow it.
Oh, Ronny Two-boots is absolutely a professional victim. He’s a disgusting, cowardly human being that only knows how to punch down. Here’s hoping the DoJ is just sitting on the Human Trafficking charges till he’s out of office.
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With false electors still in place from last election cycle, state rules restricting and scaring voters, and maps with districts that look like stick people hands there’s plenty fascists in power without them having the White House.
“Hey fuys i know we’re all running against him, but maybe if we all suck his dick at the same time he and his supporters won’t be so mean to us, I’m sure this time will be different”
I guess what they don’t seem to understand (or are unwilling to understand) is that the more they prop him up, the less influence they have over the party and the much lower chance they have to win the presidency.
Of all the people to stand behind to the end of the earth, they choose this guy?
Yeah, they aren’t running for president, they’re all running for backup and/or VP.
Not only that, but he has shown time and time again that loyalty only goes one way, and he will throw them under the bus the first chance he gets.
I mean it only happens every single time with Trump.
Trump is only interested in scapegoats and yes men.
an “attack on democracy.”
No you see, this is the real attack on democracy, not the attack on the capitol building intended to overturn the democratic results of the election.
But I thought we were “a Republic, not a democracy.”
I’m sure all this cozying up will get them positions in his cabinet until they slightly annoy him. Even his last VP had his life threatened. Why do people want to be anywhere near this fascist asshole?
Why do people want to be anywhere near this fascist asshole?
Because birds of a feather flock together.
For the life of me I just can’t understand who’s donating to these people. Like who are their supporters? They literally aren’t trying to win. Their entire thing is cow-towing to a different candidate. What’s the point of them even being there? Like I get most of them are it to make money I get that. But why are people paying them?
Corpo donors probably don’t care about them winning the presidency. They’re doing it to get their foot in the door when the primary candidates inevitably end up in office positions.
Donations from the general public? I have no fuckin idea what the reasoning there could be
I figure it’s a race for second in the hope that the first place guy will get disqualified and/or imprisoned. So they try to look like the obvious replacement for the guy the base can’t have.
Or, if Trump is able to run, they want to be on his good side just in case.
Donald Trump’s GOP rivals
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Nobody on those debate stages is actually running for president. They’re all auditioning for Trump’s VP slot. Except perhaps Vivek Ramaswamy, who seems to be trying to use his presidential run to launch some sort of career as a right wing media personality.
I agree with that. It’s a kind of performance art piece with that goal. Additionally, it makes Trump look more attractive to the extreme right part of the base. They all look at him ignoring the debates and see it as a sign of how strong he is rather than how afraid he is.
I disagree, they’re also hoping to gain Trump’s supporter base if Trump is out of the election, I’ve already heard “We’ll avenge Trump” rhetoric from Desantis
There is not cowardice like conservative cowardice.
The fucking constitution made this decision in 1866. Ironic how following the constitution is a stunt and an attack on democracy according to self proclaimed constitutionalists. Further ironic that this supposed stunt was brought on by republicans themselves, republicans were behind the efforts of CREW.
Baaaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Well makes sense to me that they would somewhat band together over this since their common enemy is democracy and the US constitution
This is the best summary I could come up with:
AMES, Iowa (AP) — With less than a month to go before voting begins, Donald Trump ‘s Republican rivals are once again rallying to his defense, this time after Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled to remove him from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause.
Just as they had following Trump’s successive indictments as he racked up 91 criminal charges, the GOP front-runner’s opponents cast the landmark decision — the first time in history the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate and one the former president has vowed to appeal — as inappropriate, a “stunt” and an “attack on democracy.”
The court’s ruling once again highlighted a defining dynamic of the GOP primary: While the trail of lawsuits and criminal charges following Trump had been expected to seriously damage his candidacy, they have instead had the opposite effect among Republicans.
The Colorado case is one of dozens of lawsuits that have been filed nationally to disqualify Trump from the ballot under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War.
Trump faces four criminal indictments, including one in Washington alleging he illegally sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fueled the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to prevent the peaceful transition of power.
Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Urbandale, Iowa, Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, Aamer Madhani in Milwaukee and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
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