The Colorado Supreme Court ruling that kicks Donald Trump off the state's ballot was the "right decision," but now the focus needs to turn towards the "other insurrectionists" in Congress, The New Republic's Ryan Kearney wrote Wednesday.
Kearney contends that the 14th Amendment decision — which states Trump cannot hold public office because his actions on Jan. 6 make him an insurrectionist — was the right one because everyone saw Trump on TV stoke the violence, as well as other behind the scenes account of Trump's actions that day.
He says that critics of the Court decision will argue that judges in three other states have tossed similar efforts to remove Trump from the ballot, but there's one crucial distinction: "Not one of the suits was dismissed on substantive grounds."
The Colorado Supreme Court, however, has determined that Trump "as an ex-president is included within the language" of the 14th Amendment and he "did engage in insurrection."
"That both of these assertions are true is, again, obvious. We’ll see what the U.S. Supreme Court thinks. But in the meantime, one question that is dancing around in my mind right now is this: Why stop with Trump?" Kearney writes.
Also read: 'How dictatorships are born': Trump releases ominous memo after Colorado ruling
According to Kearney, there are other office holders "in Congress and at the state level" who are "alleged or known to have participated in the planning" of Jan. 6.
Kearney cites a Rolling Stone article from October 2021, which alleges that Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Louie Gohmert, and Madison Cawthorn all had "direct involvement" in the planning of Jan. 6, and also alleges Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, and even newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at least had foreknowledge of what would happen that day.
"We might never know the whole story. But we should never forget that what happened on January 6 may have been orchestrated by one man, but, well, it took a village."
Read the full op-ed over at The New Republic.
