Trump SCOTUS justice once argued states can disqualify 'constitutionally prohibited' candidates

Those arguing in favor of disqualifying former President Donald Trump from 2024 presidential primary ballots are finding an unlikely ally in one of the former president's appointees to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

In Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows' ruling deeming Trump was not qualified for the state's Republican primary ballot, she cited an argument then-US Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch — Trump's first SCOTUS appointee — made in 2012 regarding a candidate who was disqualified from the ballot in Colorado. According to USA TODAY, Gorsuch wrote that a state can have a "legitimate interest in protecting the integrity and practical functioning of the political process," which "permits it to exclude from the ballot candidates who are constitutionally prohibited from assuming office."

John Fritze, who covers SCOTUS for the outlet, noted that in addition to Bellows, the Colorado supreme court also cited Gorsuch's 2012 ruling in disqualifying Trump earlier this month.

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Gorsuch's ruling was in response to the candidacy of Guyana-born attorney Abdul Karim Hassan, who was disqualified from the ballot for not meeting the Constitution's requirement that a president be a natural-born US citizen. Earlier this year, Democratic presidential candidate Cenk Uygur was disqualified from the Nevada primary ballot for the same reason, as Uygur was originally born in Turkey. The Nevada Independent reported that Uygur even crossed out the words "natural born" before the word "citizen" on his filing papers.

In Colorado and Maine, Trump was disqualified for being in violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution (more commonly known as the "insurrection clause"). Bellows disqualified Trump by determining that the events of January 6, 2021 — in which Trump supporters waged a deadly assault on the US Capitol in an attempt to disrupt Congress' certification of the 2020 Electoral College — constituted an insurrection and that Trump played a role in supporting it. The insurrection clause specifically bans any candidate from holding any office within the federal government, civilian or military, if they have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States" or provided "aid and comfort" to insurrectionists.

Both the Colorado and Maine decisions have been "stayed," or prevented from going into effect, while SCOTUS considers the matter, meaning Trump is, for now, back on the ballot in those states. Three of the justices who will decide whether the former president can appear on the 2024 ballot were appointed by Trump himself.

Justice Gorsuch was appointed to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, after former President Barack Obama failed to have his nominee, then-DC Circuit Court Chief Justice Merrick Garland, confirmed by the US Senate.

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