'Election interference' worthy of a 'banana republic': Republicans sharply criticized a court's decision to declare Donald Trump ineligible to run in a Colorado primary, a new example of the former president's power on his left a month before the primary election for 2024.
• Also read: Trump “definitely supported an insurrection,” Biden says
• Also read: Colorado Supreme Court rules Trump ineligible in 2024
• Also read: Election, trial, election, trial: Here is Trump's extraordinary schedule for 2024
Elected officials, senators, presidential candidates… One by one, conservative leaders rejected the spectacular ruling that banned Donald Trump from the ballot in this US state on Tuesday because of his role in the attack on the Capitol.
“The court’s decision aimed at barring President Trump from the Colorado primary is a thinly veiled partisan attack,” criticized Republican Congressman Mike Johnson.
“This is blatant election interference,” criticized influential conservative elected official Steve Scalise. “We live in a democracy, not a banana republic,” added Republican Randy Weber.
Abandoned by part of his camp after the chaos of January 6, 2021, the 77-year-old billionaire has undeniably regained control of the Republican Party. This despite his four criminal charges.
Rivals stay in line
Even Ron DeSantis, one of Donald Trump's only rivals who had a chance of competing with him for the Republican nomination, stuck to the line.
The Colorado ruling was based on “false reasoning” and “must be overturned by the United States Supreme Court,” he argued in a tweet Tuesday night. The decision itself will be suspended until January 4th to give the country's highest court the opportunity to rule before then.
Another of Donald Trump's rivals, currently third in the polls, Nikki Haley, offers no dissenting vote: “It's not up to the judges to make these decisions, it's up to the voters,” she told reporters at an event in Iowa.
In less than a month, this state will begin the ballet of Republican primaries for which Donald Trump is widely popular.
Since the start of the campaign, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have held back on their attacks on the former president for fear of angering his still fiercely loyal base.
“To have a chance of winning, they need to rally a large number of Trump supporters, which they can't do by attacking Trump,” political scientist Larry Sabato told AFP.
They therefore do not reject the billionaire's theory that he is the victim of a “witch hunt” led by Democratic President Joe Biden to prevent his election.
Re-election candidate Joe Biden typically avoids commenting on his rival's legal problems so as not to fuel his accusations of instrumentalizing the judiciary.
However, on Wednesday, the leader toughened his tone, reiterating that his predecessor “certainly supported an insurrection” on January 6, 2021.
“Every case I fight is the work of the Justice Department and the White House,” Donald Trump replied on his social network, hinting at the nature of the exchange between the two men in 2024.
Unusual
Election, trial, election, trial: There is no doubt that America is preparing for an extraordinary year in every respect with Donald Trump, marked by a back and forth between the campaign platforms and the courts.
For the Republican, neither a stay in prison nor a return to the White House can currently be ruled out – a completely extraordinary situation that he has taken advantage of.
With each twist and turn in his sprawling legal saga, Donald Trump has raked in eye-watering sums of money and climbed in the polls thanks to his supporters who are convinced he is the victim of a political scheme.
His team didn't wait to promote the Colorado ruling, which he will still appeal to the Washington Supreme Court, showering his supporters with fundraising appeals via email and text message on Tuesday evening.
“Paradoxically, the Colorado court’s decision likely strengthened Trump even further,” said Professor Larry Sabato. “The more he is seen as a victim of a dishonest, left-wing establishment, the more likely he is to win over Republican voters,” predicts the University of Virginia professor.