Illinois removes Trump from the ballot for his role in the assault on the Capitol

The Republican primaries in this state are held on March 19

An Illinois judge announced this Wednesday that she has decided to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot for the Republican Party primaries, which will be held on March 19, ahead of the White House elections, considering that he is not an eligible candidate for his role in the assault on the Capitol.

"The court is aware of the magnitude of this decision and its impact on the upcoming Illinois primary election. The board of elections will remove Donald Trump from the ballot for the March 19, 2024 primary, or have votes suppressed issued in his favor," Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter wrote.

Thus, he has made this decision just a month after the electoral board of this state unanimously refused to remove him from the primaries, indicating that, despite the fact that he "manipulated, instigated, aided and induced an insurrection on January 6", the board did not have jurisdiction to settle this legal challenge.

The former president, however, has until March 1 to appeal Porter's decision in Illinois state courts. This is the third state where Trump has been booted from the ballot, behind Colorado and Maine, which relied on the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits anyone who swore an oath to the Constitution and participated in an insurrection from holding public office again. . Other states, such as Michigan or Minnesota, have rejected this position.

Shortly after learning of the Illinois judge's decision, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, who has criticized Porter's ruling, which he described as "unconstitutional," promised to "promptly" appeal the court's decision.

"Democratic groups funded by (billionaire George) Soros continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny Trump his rightful place on the ballot. Today a Democratic activist judge summarily overturned the state's election board and contradicted previous decisions by dozens of other state and federal jurisdictions," he noted.

It is worth mentioning that the decisions taken by the aforementioned states to exclude Trump from the elections are on hold waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the matter. The High Court has to resolve the issue, as the former president's legal team has argued that the amendment's "insurrectional prohibition" does not apply to the Presidency.

The Supreme Court judges held their first oral hearing on this case on February 8, where they indicated that they were willing to support Trump, questioning whether the measure is intended to be applied to former presidents, whether this decision can cease to be democratic. and pointing out that he has not been convicted. However, they did not address the question of whether he participated in an insurrection or rebellion and, therefore, whether he violated the Constitution.

After the hearing, Trump offered a press conference from his mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he praised the arguments of his lawyer in the Supreme Court, indicating that he hoped they would be "well received" and considering that it is a case of "electoral interference by Democrats."

The decisions of each state apply only in that territory, but would affect the presidential campaign in which Trump is the favorite of the Republican Party despite the different court dates he has scheduled.