--- title: Supreme Court Justices Seem Skeptical of Trump Ballot Challenge description: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson. Justices wrestled with Colorado's decision to kick Donald Trump off the ballot. canonical: https://time.com/6692919/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-oral-arguments/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-08T18:59:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:39:25.768Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justices Seem Wary of Kicking Trump off the Ballot og:description: What happened in oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson. og:url: https://time.com/6692919/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-oral-arguments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b71f2768ff0e44e/698a4862e6e84a71222b1678/GettyImages-1988639411.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US Supreme Court hears arguments on Trump ballot case in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justices Seem Wary of Kicking Trump off the Ballot twitter:description: What happened in oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b71f2768ff0e44e/698a4862e6e84a71222b1678/GettyImages-1988639411.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justices Seem Wary of Kicking Trump off the Ballot in Historic Election Case > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Trump said he was pleased with his team's performance after the justices appeared broadly skeptical of efforts to kick him off the 2024 presidential election ballot. "I listened today and I thought our arguments were very - very strong," he said. "Can you take the person that's leading everywhere and say, 'Hey, we're not gonna let you run. you know I think that's pretty tough to do but I'm leaving it up to the Supreme Court."_  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Feb 8, 2024 6:59 PM UTC Trump said he was pleased with his team's performance after the justices appeared broadly skeptical of efforts to kick him off the 2024 presidential election ballot. "I listened today and I thought our arguments were very - very strong," he said. "Can you take the person that's leading everywhere and say, 'Hey, we're not gonna let you run. you know I think that's pretty tough to do but I'm leaving it up to the Supreme Court."  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Feb 8, 2024 6:59 PM UTC The U.S. Supreme Court met for over two hours on Tuesday to hear oral arguments on whether the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause bars former president Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in Colorado and other states because of his role in the [deadly Capitol attack](https://time.com/6087577/michael-fanone-january-6-interview/) on Jan. 6, 2021\. Justices on both ideological sides of the bench seemed skeptical of arguments to uphold Colorado’s decision and effectively kick Trump off ballots nationwide, wrestling with the practical implications of what would happen if they ruled that way. "I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States," said Justice Elena Kagan, one of the court’s three liberal Justices. "It just doesn't seem like a state call,” said Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump-appointee. Chief Justice John Roberts also worried about retaliation if their ruling upholds Trump being kicked off the ballot by Colorado: “I would expect that a goodly number of states will say, ‘whoever the Democratic candidate is, you’re off the ballot,’” he predicted. _Trump v. Anderson_ marks the first time the nation’s highest court has considered a presidential candidate’s ballot eligibility for potentially engaging in insurrection, and is the Supreme Court’s most direct involvement in a presidential election since _Bush v. Gore_ in 2000\. The outcome could have massive political implications for Trump, who is currently [in the lead for the Republican presidential nomination](https://time.com/6691756/trump-haley-snl-south-carolina/). A ruling against the former President could forever disqualify him from the presidency, placing the Supreme Court in an uncomfortable position at the center of another presidential election. **Read More:** [_Supreme Court Hears High-Stakes Case Seeking to Oust Trump from 2024 Ballots_](https://time.com/6692011/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-case/) The explosive political stakes of the case were made clear when Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the attempt to remove the former President from the ballot “has the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree.” Trump has warned that a ruling against him would “unleash chaos and bedlam.” Another line of questioning, from liberal and conservative Justices alike, focused on whether Trump is an "officer of the United States,” which would have implications for whether he could be disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and whether his disqualification would require some further act of Congress. The Justices largely sidestepped the legal question of whether the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol counts as a disqualifying act of insurrection, and if Trump engaged in insurrection. Trump’s attorney Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general, argued that the insurrectionist ban does not apply to the president and that Congress would have to pass specific legislation authorizing states to bar candidates from the ballot. He also argued that the Jan. 6 attack was a “riot,” not an insurrection, and denied that Trump personally engaged in any events that would qualify as insurrection. The Justices decided to consider Trump’s ballot eligibility after Colorado’s top court ruled in December that he is ineligible for a second term because of a rarely-used provision of the Constitution that disqualifies insurrectionists from holding office—Section 3 of the 14th Amendment—which bars those who had taken an oath to “support” the Constitution from holding office if they then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion." The provision was adopted after the Civil War to prevent Confederates from returning to power, though questions remain about which authority gets to decide when to disqualify a candidate on these grounds. “There’s a reason Section 3 has been dormant for 160 years,” Jason Murray, the lawyer representing the Colorado voters who brought the challenge against Trump, said. “And it’s because we haven’t seen anything like January 6.” Outside the courtroom, crowds of protesters gathered in front of the Supreme Court with banners and signs. Trump did not attend the oral arguments, instead opting to give remarks from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla. soon after the arguments ended. “It’s unfortunate that we have to go through a thing like that,” Trump said. “I consider it to be more election interference by the Democrats.” The first 20 minutes of questioning from the Justices revolved around whether Section 3 is “self-executing” and requires legislative action for the courts to apply. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the three liberal Justices, pushed back against Trump’s argument that Congress must decide whether a candidate violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. “History proves a lot to me, and to my colleagues generally,” Sotomayor said, pointing out that several state-level officials have been barred in the past from holding public office under the 14th Amendment. “There's a whole lot of examples of states relying on Section 3 to disqualify insurrectionists for state offices.” At least eight public officials have been barred from public office under Section 3, the most recent in 2022, when a convicted Jan. 6 rioter was removed from his elected position as a county commissioner in New Mexico. Trump’s lawyers, however, argued that an 1869 lower-court decision—known as Griffin’s case— is relevant to the current case against Trump, ruling that the insurrection ban could not be enforced without some action first from Congress. “It is entirely up to Congress,” Mitchell said in response to the opening question from Justice Clarence Thomas. “There would not be any role for the states in enforcing Section 3, unless Congress were to enact a statute that gives them that authority.” Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, says the Supreme Court’s ruling will likely be determined on the question of whether a single state can disqualify a candidate for the presidency, and whether Congress must first pass a statute that gives states that authority. “They focused their energy on two main off-ramps,” she said. “The only question is which off-ramp it will take.” ## Transcript [00:03] ice tres [00:07] I just finished watching. [00:09] the Supreme Court [00:12] beautiful. Thanks for watching many respects. [00:14] It's unfortunate that we have to go through a thing like that [00:17] and I consider it to be more election interference by the Democrats [00:22] as to what they're doing. [00:22] And the good news is we're leaving virtually every phone will [00:26] eating the I don't even know if we have any more. [00:29] I'm not sure that we even have the Republican candidate [00:33] somebody running with not making any impact. [00:35] So as you know, we won Iowa, [00:37] we won New Hampshire and records and each won a record. [00:41] You think we're going to do very well. [00:43] I'm heading out right now to Nevada. [00:44] I thought the presentation today was a very good one. [00:49] I think it was well-received. [00:50] I hope it was well-received you have millions of people that [00:54] are out there wanting to vote and they happen to want to go to [00:58] the me or Republican party what ever you want it, [01:01] however, you want to phrase it. [01:02] So I just say that they watching. [01:06] The Supreme Court today. [01:08] I thought it was very it's very beautiful process. [01:11] I hope that democracy in this country will continue as right [01:18] now. We have a very very tough situation with all of the radical [01:21] left ideas with the weaponization of politics. [01:25] May weaponized it like it's never been recognized before and the [01:29] one thing I'll say is they kept saying about what I said [01:31] right after [01:36] Nancy Pelosi, this was an Insurrection. [01:40] If it wasn't interested we can do except for the fact that somebody [01:46] so unnecessary so horrible, but there was no guns it would [01:55] know anything. But if you take a look at my words right after [01:59] you take a look at my speech from the Rose Garden, [02:01] which was very shortly after or you take a look at B. [02:05] I'm only on truth now, but at that time we were tweeting [02:09] and I was on Twitter if you take a look at those 536 tweets, [02:14] you'll see very beautiful very heartwarming statements [02:18] go home. [02:20] The police are doing their job to check the check the beautiful [02:24] statement. There is nothing more important to a presidency [02:26] than immunity because they have to be free to make decisions [02:30] without saying oh if I do this or if I do that as soon [02:33] as I get out of all this was going to be indicted for going [02:36] to have trouble you cannot allow the president to be out there [02:41] without immunity. They don't have immunity. [02:43] You don't have a presidency you lose you lose all is all form [02:49] of a free thought and good thought and you probably we can the [02:54] president due to a point that it was never supposed to be waking. [02:57] It would be very well. [02:59] I'm a Believer in the Supreme Court I listened today and I thought [03:06] our arguments were very very strong an argument that is very [03:12] important is the fact that you're leading in every race you're [03:15] leaving and every state you leading in the country against [03:18] both Republican and [03:20] Democrat and biting your leading in the country by a lot. [03:25] And can you take the person that's leading everywhere [03:28] and say hey, we're not going to let you run. [03:31] You know, I think it's pretty tough to do but I'm leaving [03:35] it up to the Supreme Court. [03:36] Thank you all very much. [03:37] Enjoy. Thank you peaceful transfer of Presidential Power is what [03:42] sets are democratic experiment that has persisted for 250 years [03:46] apart from those countries whose Democratic experiment [03:50] has failed Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is a self defense [03:55] for our constitution based on the idea learned through painful [04:00] experience that those who break their sworn oath to the Constitution [04:04] by engaging an Insurrection against it cannot be trusted [04:09] with public office President Donald Trump engaged in Insurrection [04:13] by inciting a violent mob to attack our capital and disenfranchised [04:18] over 80 million people who voted In doing so President [04:23] Trump disqualified himself from holding office. [04:26] That's not something we are doing to him. [04:28] That's not something any court is doing to him that is something [04:32] he did to himself under our constitution. [04:35] Today is a day that test our nation's commitment to the rule [04:39] of law and whether our constitution applies equally to everybody [04:44] regardless of their popularity. [04:46] The law is clear that President Trump can hold no office again, [04:51] unless two-thirds of Congress granted amnesty. [04:54] We are confident that the US Supreme Court will apply Section [04:59] 3 as written and uphold the decision of the Colorado Supreme [05:03] Court standing for the principle that no person is above the law. [05:10] threw up a constitution that was it still in effect, [05:15] but we had a little Insurrection back in the [05:20] late 1860 [05:24] and guess what they wrote. [05:28] amendment 14 with Section 3 in it [05:32] Insurrection you cannot serve if you committed Insurrection, [05:36] what is trying to throw out an election? [05:40] I call it Insurrection as well as rate in the US Capitol. [05:49] Baddest Insurrection. The last time it was rated was by the British [05:53] in 1812 after the war. [05:57] This is very personal to me. [06:00] I've lived a hell of a long time and I've gone through a lot [06:04] of presidents and this is the first one. [06:08] That is trying to destroy the Constitution. [06:11] We interviewed in this case early on and we are glad that it's [06:15] gotten to this point so that we can get some clarity for a nation. [06:17] Donald Trump is a qualified candidate these ridiculous [06:22] and novel legal theories to try and engage in election. [06:25] If parents are going to be certainly struck down. [06:28] At least we think so, we respect the independent Judiciary [06:31] and are in this branch of government, [06:34] but we feel strongly that we're going to succeed on the merits [06:36] and look forward to seeing Donald Trump on the ballot in Colorado [06:42] and certainly on the ballot for the November election so that [06:46] Joe Biden can finally be defeated and held accountable. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6692919/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-oral-arguments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6692919/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-oral-arguments/"},"headline":"Justices Seem Wary of Kicking Trump off the Ballot in Historic Election Case","datePublished":"2024-02-08T18:59:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:39:25.768Z","description":"What happened in oral arguments in Trump v. 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