President Joe Biden said there was “no question” Donald Trump “supported an insurrection” in light of Colorado’s legal ruling rendering him ineligible for the US presidency.
However, Mr Biden did not comment on the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot.
Speaking about his likely Republican opponent in next year’s election, the Democrat president said: “Whether the 14th Amendment applies or not, we’ll let the court make that decision.
“But he certainly supported an insurrection. There’s no question about it. None. Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on it.”
Trump is accused of inciting riots at the US Capitol Building in an effort to overturn the result after he lost the US election in 2020, which he claimed without evidence was due to voter fraud.
On Wednesday, he urged the Supreme Court to reject a request by federal prosecutors to immediately review his claim that he cannot be prosecuted for trying to reverse the election result.
The ruling in Colorado sets up a likely showdown in the US Supreme Court, which has the final say on constitutional matters, to decide whether the frontrunner for the Republican nomination can remain in the race for the White House.
Trump’s campaign has already said it will appeal the “completely flawed” decision to the US Supreme Court.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday said that former president Trump is ineligible to serve as president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
In brief, the section states that “no person shall… hold any office… having previously taken an oath… as an officer of the United States… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.
It is the first time in the country’s history that the provision has been used to keep a candidate off the ballot.
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Dozens of lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts to disqualify Trump under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War.
But Trump is permitted to run across the rest of the US.
Mr Biden has repeatedly condemned Trump and described him as a threat to American democracy but has been less opinionated about the legal challenges he faces, including this one.
His press secretary said: “The president is not involved, we’re not involved in this. This is a legal process and we’re not involved in this.”