Mainstream media admit 'foolish' Colorado Supreme Court ruling is gift to Trump

Several mainstream media outlets published pieces this week arguing that the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar former President Trump from the state’s primary ballot is a "gift" to his re-election campaign.

Columns in CNN, The L.A. Times, and a report from NBC News insisted that the state Supreme Court’s invocation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the ballot does the opposite of block him from being president again. It gives him a "boost."

That’s how L.A. Times columnist Mark Barabak described the 4-3 ruling in his piece, titled, "Colorado decision striking Trump from ballot is a boost, not a setback, for his campaign."

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Multiple liberal media sites published pieces this week warning that the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling against former President Trump is a "gift" to his re-election.  ((Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images))

In the Tuesday column, Barabak wrote, "Donald Trump received an early Christmas present courtesy of the Colorado Supreme Court."  He said that though the decision has been seen as something to be celebrated by Democrats and Trump foes, "in the longer term the ruling may well be moot."

The columnist said, "But a perceived assault on the insurrectionist ex-president — by Democratic-appointed Colorado justices, no less — will only make him more sympathetic to the GOP base; his support in polls soared last April after the first of four indictments."

Barabak continued, describing the court’s decision as another attempt at "an easy out" for Democrats and their Trump problem. 

"They’re counting on rulings such as the one in Colorado, or legal efforts underway in California and other states, to banish Trump from the ballot and end the threat of his return to the White House. But there’s no easy shortcut to short-circuit Trump’s comeback, notwithstanding the exultation over Tuesday’s court decision," he said. 

He concluded, saying, "Democrats will have to beat him at the ballot box, as they should. A courtroom is no place to decide a presidential election — which is exactly what the Supreme Court did in 2000."

In a column published at CNN.com, University of Pennsylvania political science senior lecturer Damon Linker proclaimed that the Colorado Supreme Court’s Tuesday Trump decision "is breathtakingly foolish."

He told readers that he "considers Trump an aspiring authoritarian who poses a serious threat to democracy in America." However, he noted that the idea that 14th Amendment can be used to keep him from office is "an illusion."

Linker said, "Trump fundamentally represents a political problem, which means he can only be beaten in the political arena. Efforts to take him down by other means will only make him stronger."

The author explained that for a "standard politician," such a ruling could end their career. However, a populist like Trump can use the ruling to further fuel the "populist narrative," the us vs. them theme that drives his support. 

Further, Linker claimed that "courts in other states are sure to follow" Colorado’s decision, which will only make Republicans trust the judicial branch in the country less. "I can’t think of a series of events more likely than this to shred the legitimacy of the judicial branch of government among Republican voters — and for good reason," he wrote. 

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The Colorado Supreme Court is seen in Denver in 2015. (Jon Akira YAMAMOTO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

He then advised that "the best outcome of this episode would be for the US Supreme Court to strike down the Colorado ruling swiftly and unambiguously, making clear that, for now, no state will be permitted to disqualify Trump from seeking or holding the office of the presidency."

And like Barabak, Linker added, "Trump and his populist style of politics can’t be defeated by lawyers and judges. They can only be beaten at the ballot box."

Similarly, NBCNews.com published a report Wednesday about "political insiders in both parties" claiming that Colorado’s decision "will help the former president in his quest to win the Republican nomination next year."

The piece, composed by network reporters Jonathan Allen, Katherine Doyle and Dasha Burns, noted that "Some Democrats fear it could boost him next November, too."

It reported that dynamic following the decision in which "Republican elected officials raced to rally around Trump in the hours after the ruling was released Tuesday — even those not backing him for president in 2024." 

The piece noted that the former president has been able to use previous indictments to shore up his Republican support in the 2024 race, and he is attempting to use this decision in the same way.  

"Trump is reaping immediate political rewards," it read. "Shortly after the decision was handed down, he sent out a fundraising pitch."

NBC News then cited multiple Democratic Party figures who believe the Colorado Supreme Court handed "Trump a gift," like former Obama advisor David Axelrod, who called Trump’s legal problems "battery packs" for his campaign. 

The piece also quoted Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, who said, "The optics of the decision before any court has ruled on his indictments just feeds the Trump persecution complex. And unfathomable as it may sound to Democrats, [this] will likely strengthen him."

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