It would signal nothing less than the end of the American republic if the U.S. Supreme Court allows Colorado and other states to keep an unfavored presidential candidate off the ballot.
That’s the appraisal of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a constitutional lawyer and former state attorney general, in an exclusive interview with The Heartlander.
The Supreme Court Thursday heard arguments – and justices made some of their own – in the landmark case in which former President Donald Trump is asking to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s December decision to keep him off the state’s Republican presidential ballot due to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol incursion.
Most close observers expect the nation’s highest court to rule handily in Trump’s favor after hearing even the most liberal justices’ pointed questions of Colorado’s attorneys. Still, one never knows – and it’s possible a few far-left justices may not vote to overturn the ballot ban, despite the political chaos that would unfurl.
“Any ruling other than 9-0 would be a disgrace,” Hawley posted on X Thursday morning.
Hawley expounded on his thoughts in the interview with The Heartlander. A vote to allow ballot banning of disfavored presidential candidates – whatever you think of Trump, he has not been convicted or even charged with insurrection – would be “grossly and blatantly unconstitutional,” he said.
“And if that goes forward, if that can happen, we will no longer have a constitutional republic. What will happen is, these petty state officials, many of whom are not even elected, will be able to say ‘I don’t like that candidate, therefore, I’m not going to put him on the ballot.’
“So, red states will have red candidates only and blue states will have blue candidates only. That’s not a free election. That’s not a fair election. It’ll be the end of our constitutional government – if now, you don’t like the candidate, you can just keep him off the ballot and the voters don’t get to decide. Democracy is about the voters getting to decide.
“That’s who chooses the president: the voters. Not some judge in Colorado, not some bureaucrat in Maine, but the voters. And I hope the Supreme Court will reinforce that 9-0.”
