The chairman of the Republican Party in Colorado, told CNN Tuesday that his party has a plan to deal with a recent Colorado Supreme Court decision that said former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the state ballot next year.
Former Colorado state Rep. Dave Williams was asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip to explain what the Colorado GOP meant when it posted “We will never surrender” to X earlier that evening.
🚨 #Trump was kicked off the ballot in Colorado. 🚨
We will never surrender!
Please help us keep Trump on the ballot and fight this election interference now.
Chip in here👇https://t.co/pMvJ91DUKL
— Colorado Republican Party (@cologop) December 20, 2023
“We think this is an absurd ruling and we’re going to do whatever we can to protect the rights of voters pf Colorado — and frankly, across the nation — to choose Donald Trump if they so choose,” Williams said.
“We’re going to appeal this to the United State Supreme Court — we’re a party to the case — and we’re not going to take this lying down,” he added.
Perhaps more importantly, the state party had a plan already in place to ensure its voters could support Trump in the primary if they wanted to do so, regardless of the court’s decision.
“And if need be, we’re going to withdraw from the primary and go to a strict caucus process that’ll allow our voters to choose Donald Trump if they want,” Williams explained.
Asked if he would consider a decision by SCOTUS affirming the state court’s decision as election interference, Williams was unequivocal.
Should Trump be allowed on 2024 ballots?
“Absolutely,” he said. “This is un-American, what’s going on. I don’t care if it’s a Republican-majority Supreme Court of the United States or if it’s a Democrat majority here in Colorado.”
“Donald Trump has not been charged nor convicted of insurrection,” Williams said later in the interview, explaining that the court’s decision all but ignored Trump’s right to due process.
Phillip asked Williams if the other Republican candidates should withdraw from the Colorado primary as Vivek Ramaswamy, who has fallen dramatically in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls over the past three months, suggested on X.
“He won’t have to, we as a party are going to withdraw from the primary,” Williams said. “We’re not gonna allow our voters to be shortchanged by radical justices.”
You can watch the entire interview below.
Colorado GOP chairman @RepDaveWilliams says the state’s party will move to a caucus system if the courts try to keep Trump off the ballot. pic.twitter.com/OuEZL5AH65
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) December 20, 2023
Even former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, shown by Phillip earlier in the video, agreed that his primary rival should appear on the Colorado ballot.
“I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being president of the United States by any court,” Christie said. “I think he should be prevented from being president of the United States by the voters of this country.”
