Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin predicted Friday that the Supreme Court will overturn former President Trump’s ban from the Colorado Republican primary ballot.
“I don’t usually like to predict the outcome of Supreme Court cases based on oral argument,” Toobin said on “CNN This Morning” in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “I’m gonna make an exception and say this was a slam dunk victory in the offing for the Trump campaign.”
Toobin’s comments come in the wake of the court’s apparent hesitance to go ahead with blocking Trump from appearing on the ballot in oral argument Thursday.
Several of the justices on the nation’s highest court gave the impression of being sympathetic to the former president’s argument that states do not have the authority to disqualify federal candidates. Some of them also questioned if the Insurrection Clause in the 14th Amendment applies to the presidency.
“What’s a state doing deciding who other citizens get to vote for president?” Justice Elena Kagan asked.
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Chief Justice John Roberts also noted what he called a “daunting consequence” of other states possibly moving to kick Democratic candidates off of the ballot if the court disqualifies Trump.
“I have rarely seen a contested case where the political breakdown did not — was not reflected in the oral argument,” Toobin said. “This was close to unanimous.”
CNN analyst Van Jones said Thursday on the network that the court’s hesitance to block Trump from the ballot showed a “foregone conclusion” that is probably “very frustrating for a lot of people.”
“This is a Supreme Court that seems very strong when it’s time to take rights away from women, very strong when it’s time to take diversity programs away from college kids, very, very strong,” Jones said. “Voting rights away from Americans, very, very strong. But now, it’s time to disenfranchise a disenfranchiser and they’re just looking for the exits.”