Christie reacts to Trump Colorado ballot news: Voters should decide, not courts

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie weighed in on the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to knock former President Trump off the state’s ballot, arguing voters, not the courts, should decide if Trump should be “prevented” from being reelected to the White House.

“What I will say is I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being President of the United States, by any court,” Christie said in a statement Tuesday. “I think he should be prevented from being the President of the United States by the voters of this country.”

Christie said he doesn’t believe “it’s good” for the U.S. if Trump is kept off the ballot by a court.

“I think it’s bad for the country if that happens,” Christie said. “Now, the other reason I believe that is because, you know, he will have had to incite insurrection, be a part of an insurrection for him to be excluded. There’s been no trial of him on that.”

Trump is currently facing charges from the Department of Justice related to his alleged efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election, which included blocking the certification of 2020 election votes.

The trial is slated to begin March 4, though Trump is attempting to have the case tossed out on the grounds he has presidential immunity from federal prosecution.

The Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling Tuesday night arguing Trump should be prevented from appearing on the state’s Republican primary ballot because of his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. 

In a 4-3 ruling, the court ruled Trump was involved in an insurrection by promoting false claims of election fraud and directing his supporters to the Capitol, where some participated in the riots in an attempt to stop the certification of 2020 election results. 

Christie, who has made his criticism of Trump a central focus of his bid for the White House, said while he has “very strong feelings about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6,” he also strongly believes people deserve a trial and jury decision before “rights are taken away from them.”

“So I know it will be counterintuitive to a lot of people who listen to me about Donald Trump, but I hope it just goes to prove [to] you: I don’t hate him at all,” Christie said. “I just think what he’s done is horribly wrong and that he has reserved the right that we would give him as voters [the chance] to lead us again.”

Colorado’s Supreme Court put its ruling on hold until Jan. 4 to allow Trump to first seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority. If he does, Trump’s name will automatically remain on the ballot until justices resolve the appeal. 

Trump’s campaign vowed Tuesday that they would be appealing the decision to the nation’s highest court.

Recent analysis from The Hill and Decision Desk HQ shows Trump with a 54 percent lead over his GOP rivals. Christie has struggled to gain any significant ground in the GOP primary, garnering about 2.7 percent of the GOP primary vote, compared with Trump’s 64.9 percent show of support.