Former Ohio Governor John Kasich slammed Colorado’s ruling potentially barring Trump from Colorado’s ballot, arguing it is "partisan nonsense."
Colorado's Supreme Court ruled this week that former President Trump must be struck from the state's 2024 election ballot due to a purported violation of the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause. This portion of the 14th Amendment was adopted in the 1860s to prevent former Confederates from occupying positions in the federal government after the Civil War. Trump thus far has yet to be charged with or convicted of insurrection.
Kasich, who has criticized Trump in the past, appeared on MSNBC’s "Chris Jansing Reports" on Wednesday. In the segment, he slammed the concept of Colorado disqualifying Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot as not only improbable, but in bad faith altogether.
"It’s going nowhere. I mean, look, I don’t need to lay out my bona fides as my opposition to Donald Trump, but this is just pure partisan ridiculous stuff here," Kasich said.
Kasich derided the ruling and warned that setting this legal precedent can be politically hazardous.
"Look, you’ve got a partisan court, all Democrats, and they barely, they barely could say that he should be disqualified, and think about the precedent of this. I always worry about that, I worry about the fact, I’ve told you this before, ‘You do this to me, and then I do this to you,’ and this just goes on and on and on," he said. "I just think this case is not going to hold up, and it has a significant - if it were to hold up, you tell me what we’re looking at in terms of future decisions being made by partisans, partisan judges, it tells somebody who should be on the ballot and who shouldn’t."
He then challenged Democrats to take on Trump in a fair election rather than hope this ruling would hold.
TURLEY DEEPLY TROUBLED BY COLORADO BARRING TRUMP FROM BALLOT: COULD BE 'INCREDIBLY DESTABILIZING'
"Frankly, I know there are probably a lot of Democrats excited about this, but I’ve got news for them, or some advice for them. Why don’t you figure out how to beat Trump?" he asked. "That would be a more important decision."
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Kasich also suggested that this legal controversy has emboldened Trump and vindicated his supporters.
"I can tell you what these Trumpers are gonna say, they’re gonna say, ‘You see! The deep state, they won’t even let him compete! They won’t even let him get into the ballpark and be able to swing at a pitch.’ That’s what they’re gonna say, and he’s gonna say it, he’ll say ‘The deep state is at it again.'"
