David Axelrod, CNN commentator and former adviser to President Barack Obama, warned of a “very strong reaction” if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the decision by Colorado’s highest court to kick Donald Trump off the presidential primary ballot in 2024.
Axelrod appeared on CNN just one day before SCOTUS is set to hear oral arguments Thursday over the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to strike Trump from the state’s ballot, citing the insurrection clause in the Constitution.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed the former president from the state’s primary ballot under the clause in a similar ruling back in December.
Axelrod, who declared that the decision to boot Trump from the ballot would “rip the country apart” if upheld, told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the move would be “very, very disruptive” in this country.
“I think it will create a huge reaction, and that worries me. It worries me because partly because of Donald Trump. There’s so much cynicism about our institutions already and the strength of our democracy are these institutions,” Axelrod said. “You can argue that, well, that’s why you have to go the way the Colorado court suggests. But I think in the minds of many voters, this would be a subversion, and it would draw a very strong reaction.”
Axelrod declared that it was “stunning” that Trump is in the position he’s in over three years after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I’m not here as an apologist for Donald Trump and I’m certainly not here as a lawyer. But I’m sure that one of the things the Supreme Court has to consider is what is the impact of a decision like that?” he said.
“I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if the Supreme Court said we’re removing the front-running Republican candidate from the ballot and essentially saying to the American people, you won’t have the opportunity to vote for him.”
H/T: Mediaite