US Supreme Court to hear Donald Trump ballot ban appeal

The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Colorado can ban Donald Trump from the presidential ballot, setting the stage for a potentially landmark legal decision and political firestorm that will have major implications for the 2024 US presidential election.

The Supreme Court confirmed late on Friday that it would hear the case, with arguments set for February 8. That puts any decision on a collision course with the presidential primary process, which will start on January 15 with the Iowa caucuses, followed by the New Hampshire primary on January 23.

Trump remains the undisputed frontrunner in the shrinking field of Republicans vying for the party’s nomination for president. His standing in opinion polls has only improved in recent months, as his legal troubles compound.

The move by the highest US court comes just two days after Trump petitioned the court to overturn a decision by Colorado’s state supreme court to ban him from the presidential primary ballot there.

The court in Colorado issued its ruling last month, saying he was not fit to be president under the 14th amendment to the constitution, which bans individuals who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding office.

Trump’s critics have labelled him an insurrectionist for his actions surrounding January 6 2021, when mobs of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The former president continues to allege the US election was “rigged” against him.