A heated debate arose between two CNN analysts on Wednesday over Colorado's Supreme Court barring former President Donald Trump from the state primary ballot in 2024.
The state's supreme court argued Tuesday that Trump was disqualified due to Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone from holding office if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion."
Senior legal analyst Elie Honig acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the ruling and suggested the issue boiled down to whether the court engaged in due process, not whether Trump was guilty of engaging in insurrection because of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
"We don’t know how this works, we don’t know who gets to decide whether a person engaged in insurrection… The problem is, the Constitution tells us how we’re supposed to know: the 14th Amendment says Section 5, Congress is supposed to pass laws telling us how this works. Congress has not done that," he began.
"So what Colorado did is they sort of made up this procedure. They had this quasi-hearing over five days and now the Supreme Court of Colorado by a 4-3 margin is saying, ‘Eh, good enough, he’s out.’ That is a violation of due process, and that is why I think this ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court is going to be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court," he argued.
Senior political analyst John Avlon vehemently disagreed with Honig's take.
"There have been a lot of roadblocks in this effort, based on a lot of people finding technicalities," he retorted.
"The Constitution says what it says. The Colorado Supreme Court decided that the Constitution still matters and it applies to Donald Trump," he said, referring to the 14th Amendment.
"I take Elie’s point, we’ve had a long, vigorous agreement about the application of this, but the Constitution exists for a reason," Avlon stated. "If people keep looking for loopholes to excuse Donald Trump for accountability against the Constitution, that’s where you reap the whirlwind. This is not partisan this is about applying historic principles."
IF TRUMP BALLOT DECISION STANDS, COLORAD GOP SAYS IT WILL MOVE FROM PRIMARY TO CAUCUS SYSTEM
Honig shot back, "Due process is not a loophole! Due process is in section 1 of the 14th Amendment."
The legal analyst went on to say Avlon was mirroring arguments about technical loopholes from the Trump camp over 2020 election lawsuits.
"Those [loopholes] matter! Due process matters. We can’t just throw it out!" he argued.
Avlon urged those discussing the case to reject "partisan spin" and look to what the Constitution says about insurrection. However, Honig reiterated his argument that because the case revolved around the 14th Amendment, the ruling could be thrown out by a higher court for violating due process.
The Colorado court's 4-3 ruling is stayed until January 4, 2024, to account for appeals.
Trump Campaign Spokesman Steven Cheung wrote in a statement that an appeal would be filed on Tuesday night.
"Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice. Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November," Cheung wrote.
"The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision. We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits," he added.
Fox News' Bill Mears and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
