The Biden administration’s implementation of sanctions against foreign nations for excluding opposition candidates from election ballots has prompted lawmakers to scrutinize the Colorado Supreme Court’s recent decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 election ballot.
In a 4-3 ruling on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court determined that Trump, under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” is ineligible to run for office, despite the absence of criminal conviction for such an offense.
Lawmakers have noted the administration’s prior use of sanctions against foreign nations engaging in anti-democratic practices, specifically targeting those suppressing political competition and excluding opponents from election ballots.
Senator Marco Rubio highlighted the irony, stating, “The U.S. has put sanctions on other countries for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court has done today.”
Similarly, Senator Mike Lee emphasized the administration’s history of threatening sanctions against countries that manipulate their legal systems to exclude challengers and protect incumbents.
The comparison was drawn to instances like Venezuela, where the Trump administration imposed sanctions for undemocratic practices.
The Biden administration later eased some sanctions, contingent on Venezuela’s commitment to fair elections in 2024 and allowing political opponents on the ballot. However, concerns arose when Maduro’s regime suspended the results of the opposition leader’s primary election victory, leading to a reevaluation of potential sanctions by the Biden administration.
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Nicaragua faced sanctions in 2021 due to a “sham election” that removed most of the incumbent president’s political opponents from the ballot.
The Biden administration cited the government’s unjust arrests, limiting the political opposition and ensuring a rigged outcome. Similar sanctions were imposed on Belarus in 2020 by the Trump administration, upheld by the Biden administration in 2021, over concerns of fraudulent elections and suppression of independent voices.
Critics, including lawmakers and legal experts, have denounced the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling as unconstitutional. The Trump campaign expressed immediate disagreement and announced plans to appeal.
While President Biden refrained from commenting directly on the ruling, he asserted on Wednesday that there is “no question” Trump incited the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, leaving the application of the 14th Amendment to the courts’ discretion.
