Colorado Supreme Court kicks Trump off ballot, citing 'insurrection'

Colorado's Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for president next year in the state, citing a constitutional insurrection clause.

The court ruled 4-3 that Mr Trump was not an eligible candidate because he had engaged in an insurrection over the US Capitol riot nearly three years ago.

It does not stop Mr Trump running in the other states and his campaign says it will appeal to the US Supreme Court.

The decision, they said, was "completely flawed".

The justices wrote in their ruling: "We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us.

"We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."

One of the three justices who dissented, Carlos Samour, though, said the government could not "deprive someone of the right to hold public office without due process of law".

The decision reverses an earlier one from a Colorado judge, who ruled the ban did not apply to presidents but found Mr Trump had participated in an insurrection. The former president's supporters stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 while lawmakers were certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.