The Supreme Court hints it will keep Donald Trump on the ballot

WHEN THE SUPREME COURT decided a generation ago, five justices in effect handed George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore. The implications of, which the court heard on February 8th, could be similarly momentous. But this time the justices are wary of making a splash in and of splitting their votes along ideological lines. By the end of the oral argument, a consensus seemed to have emerged: despite his role in the events of January 6th 2021, Colorado will very probably not be allowed to remove Mr Trump from its ballot, nor will the other 49 states in this year’s election.The historic hearing marked the first time the Supreme Court had considered the meaning and reach of Section 3 of the , a provision that bars officials from holding future public office if, after taking an oath supporting the constitution, they engage in “insurrection or rebellion”. When rioters stormed the Capitol trying to overturn the 2020 election, scholars pointed to this relic of the Reconstruction era—a tool originally designed to keep former Confederate leaders away from the levers of power. Voters and advocacy groups in at least 35 states emerged to contend that Donald Trump is a modern-day insurrectionist who should be disqualified from a second presidential term.