'Bad things somehow help the Trump campaign': Ex-Pence adviser warns about ballot removal

Allison Gill's Thursday podcast, "The Daily Beans," addresses the Colorado 14th Amendment lawsuit and the impending case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Speaking to former Homeland Security adviser to Mike Pence, Olivia Troye, Gill explained that if the Supreme Court doesn't weigh in on the case in time, the Colorado Supreme Court said that Donald Trump must appear on the ballot anyway, despite its ruling.

However, the Colorado GOP said that they would withdraw from all primary elections entirely and go to a primary caucus if Trump is banned from the ballot.

The case is being watched closely as Maine is trying to decide whether Trump qualifies for its ballot as well, as Lawfare's Roger Parloff explained this week in a social media thread. The secretary of state there could use the ruling of the Colorado state Supreme Court to justify not putting Trump on its ballot. There's currently no litigation in the state, but if the top election official there decides to remove Trump from the ballot, there likely will be.

Gill noted that the Colorado decision may be dealing with the primary, but it also has a bearing on the general election ballot. So, if the Supreme Court misses the Jan. 5 deadline for the ballot cutoff, it doesn't mean that the case somehow disappears.

Gill told Raw Story via direct message that there are 16 states to watch on the matter.

During the podcast, she explained that there are some debates over whether the 14th Amendment is about someone running for office or taking office. Another legal debate includes questioning whether the presidency is considered to officially be a constitutional office.

Troye cited more moderate Republicans who are using the excuse that the litigation is taking away the will of the voters. They want to ignore the 14th Amendment entirely and hand it over to the voters.

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"I look at the Supreme Court and I don't know what they'll do," she confessed. "What I am concerned about is that it seems like bad things somehow help the Trump campaign. He did something bad, these are things that potentially keep him off the ballot. And some are like, this is a step in the right direction, hopefully. Anything to keep him out of the Oval Office. I'm always in favor of that because I don't think he should be anywhere near the Oval Office."

Troye explained that on the flip side, it "galvanizes" the Trump campaign.

"And I just hate the fact that they're — I mean I'm already seeing the talking points. I'm really curious to see how much they've fundraised off of that. They've sent out an email on it already. I just wonder how this plays out in the general public," she continued. "Not that we should fear that in the judicial process, because justice should be justice. And there is something here to be said about let's look at the Constitution and really make a ruling on this."

You can listen to the full podcast online here.