Trump touts Christie’s criticism of Colorado ruling

Former President Trump touted fellow 2024 GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie’s criticism of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that rendered Trump ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot in 2024.

Trump published a series of posts Tuesday afternoon on his social media platform, Truth Social. The vast majority of the posts sharply criticized the court’s ruling and amplified remarks criticizing the decision.

Among the many statements Trump reposted was a screenshot of a RealClearPolitics article quoting Christie, a longtime ally-turned-critic of Trump’s.

Christie last week uncharacteristically sided with Trump in his remarks about the ruling, making the case that the former president’s political fate should be determined by voters.

“I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being president of the United States by any court. He should be prevented from being president by the voters of this country. I don’t believe it is good for our country if he is precluded from the ballot by a court. It is bad for the country if that happens,” Christie is quoted as saying, in a post Trump shared on social media.

Christie made the point that Americans “deserve to have a trial before their rights are taken away from them.”

“I know it will be counterintuitive for a lot of people who listen to me about Donald Trump, but I hope this goes to prove that I don’t hate him,” the text, attributed to Christie, continued.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump’s actions leading up to and during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, violate Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That section says that anyone who, having taken an oath to support the constitution, “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” would be ineligible to hold public office again.

The issue is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, as Trump has vowed to appeal the Colorado ruling.