(LifeSiteNews) – Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to remove himself from the Colorado primary ballot if former President Donald Trump’s removal by the Colorado Supreme Court is allowed to take effect, a gesture that fellow candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rebuked as unnecessarily giving Democrats what they really want.
On Tuesday, Colorado’s highest court ruled 4-3 that Trump was ineligible for the presidency under the Disqualification Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that “[n]o person” may “hold any office” who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States, “or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Democrats argue, and the court agreed, that Trump did so by “engag[ing] in insurrection” by calling for the infamous January 6, 2021 demonstration to protest Congressional certification of his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, which devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. The FBI eventually had to admit it did not find evidence that the riot was intended by Trump or otherwise planned by those around him.
Trump’s GOP competitors overwhelmingly denounced the ruling as a politically motivated abuse of power, a flouting of both facts and law, and an unwarranted meddling in the election process that ought to be overturned.
Ramaswamy went so far as to “pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot” while “demand[ing] that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately — or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country.”
During a NewsMax interview, DeSantis was asked about the proposal, which he dismissed.
“No, I think that’s just playing into the left. I think the case will get overturned by the Supreme Court, but I’ve qualified for all the ballots,” he answered. “I’m competing in all the states and I’m gonna accumulate the delegates necessary. That’s the whole name of the game in this situation. But I do anticipate that that decision was political and will get reversed.”
Various MAGA-aligned media personalities pounced, suggesting that DeSantis has an obligation to effectively sacrifice his own candidacy in a display of solidarity with his chief opponent:
God Bless Vivek.
He’s not a RINO.
Unlike Nikki and Ron. https://t.co/qoMe1GdzI8
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) December 20, 2023
MUST WATCH:
On @NEWSMAX moments ago, @RonDeSantis was asked by the show host if he is going to stand in solidarity with @VivekGRamaswamy and also remove himself from the GOP primary ballot in Colorado since President Trump has been removed from the ballot.
He said NO, and… pic.twitter.com/iphXGii1B4
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 20, 2023
🚨 Ron DeSantis says he will NOT join Vivek in withdrawing from the Colorado primary ballot until Trump is allowed on.
DeSantis just committed political seppuku on national television. pic.twitter.com/895a33z1in
— Kingsley Wilson (@KingsleyCortes) December 20, 2023
And just like that Ron DeSantis has disqualified himself.
Anyone who believes they should win by cheating doesn't deserve to be anywhere near power https://t.co/QgzFE20oyX
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) December 20, 2023
Any GOP candidate who doesn't do this is a stooge of the deep state, or simply a fool who doesn't know what time it is, and should never be allowed to get near the White House. https://t.co/wDf9sqhtmk
— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) December 20, 2023
Others, meanwhile, agreed with DeSantis that such a gesture would be serve no productive purpose and be moot because the U.S. Supreme Court will likely overturn the ruling as unconstitutional, noting that Trump has not actually been removed from the Colorado ballot yet as the ruling does not take effect until January 4, specifically to give the nation’s highest court time to weigh in.
Some also dismissed Ramaswamy’s declaration as an effort to curry even more favor with Trump in hopes of securing a position in a hypothetical second administration, and suggested Trump would not be similarly generous were the roles reversed, given the 45th president’s own history of wanting and trying to get opponents disqualified from ballots:
"Oh yeah! We'll show you! Now even MORE Republicans aren't going to run in Colorado!"
I just don't see the strategy here. Aren't you giving the Left more of what they want?
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) December 20, 2023
Vivek is a Trump stalking horse running a fake campaign that is more of him auditioning for some position in Trump's orbit. No one should follow that fraud's lead. https://t.co/NqlOpRyL77
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) December 20, 2023
MAGA gets triggered because DeSantis wont virtue signal, They get more leftist by the day.
Also I've lost count the amount of times they've said DeSantis' career was over, Yes it so over you'll talk about him daily. #DumpTrump #DeSantis2024 #withDeSantis https://t.co/sXoDjYASJi
— KRYSTAL In FL 🐊 🇺🇸 (@MsBradsher) December 20, 2023
Vivek taking his name off the Colorado primary ballot is like me taking my name out of consideration for the Heisman Trophy. Anybody claiming anyone else should drop out isn’t smart or honest. PS (everyone running for POTUS is literally trying “to win power”) https://t.co/EPb2CD3EXt
— Chris Loesch 𝕏 (@ChrisLoesch) December 21, 2023
The other candidates should respond exactly the way Donald Trump would respond if one of his opponents was taken off the ballot.
(You all know *exactly* how he’d react, which is why this suggestion pisses you off.) https://t.co/u1MCyCNV3t
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) December 20, 2023
DeSantis also argued the ongoing legal challenges against Trump “100%” were “unfair” and “abuses of power,” but were also in the service of a strategy to “basically solidify support in the primary for [Trump], get him into the general, and the whole general election is going to be all this legal stuff, which would enable President Joe Biden to “skate through this thing.”
A year ago, in the wake of the 2022’s disappointing midterm congressional elections, many polls showed that nationally and in numerous primary states a majority of Republicans wanted to move on from the former president with a leader like DeSantis. But the string of criminal indictments against Trump in various jurisdictions triggered GOP voters into rallying around him, even as the legal battles impair Trump’s fundraising and ability to campaign.
Trump maintains a commanding lead for the Republican presidential nomination, which DeSantis supporters are counting on reversing starting with the governor’s ground operation delivering a surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses.
Fluctuating national polls currently have Trump narrowly leading a close race with Biden should the former president be nominated, although voters also say that likely convictions in left-wing venues will make them less likely to support him. It’s also speculated that Democrats may replace Biden with a younger Democrat such as Gavin Newsom or Dean Phillips, and it is not yet known which candidate would lose more votes to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential run.
Voting in the Republican primaries does not begin until January, and the general election 11 months away.