By Sara Loflin
As the Colorado Supreme Court hears arguments in the case to disqualify ex-President Donald Trump from the 2024 Colorado primary ballot for his role in the January 6th, 2021, insurrection to prevent the peaceful transfer of executive power to Trump’s lawfully elected successor, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, implored the Court to let no one, not even the President of the United States, avoid accountability under the U.S. Constitution.
As the child of an immigrant who swore an oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution, as a local elected official who swore an oath to support the Constitution, I never imagined that these words might not apply to the President of the United States.
In fact, I find the notion deeply offensive and disturbing. District Judge Sarah B. Wallace ruled in November that former President Donald Trump engaged in insurrection as defined by the 14th Amendment. But ruling that the 14th Amendment does not apply to Donald Trump, due to a narrow interpretation of Trump’s oath of office, was a mistake we hope the Colorado Supreme Court will correct.
No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the Constitution. Donald Trump took an oath to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution’ when he was sworn in as president. Allowing Donald Trump to evade the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment after Trump’s unprecedented attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election would severely undermine the rule of law, and set the dangerous precedent that crimes by a president are above legal scrutiny.
We urge the Colorado Supreme Court to remember their own oaths of office and to uphold the Constitution’s binding legal authority over every American including Mr. Trump.
Sara Loflin is Executive Director, Progress Now Colorado.