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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Lawrence Douglas

Americans are hoping the courts will spare them an electoral reckoning with Trump

Trump looks on during a campaign event on 19 December 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa.
Donald Trump looks on during a campaign event on 19 December in Waterloo, Iowa. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

“This is how dictatorships are born.” Such was Donald Trump’s response to news that the Colorado supreme court had ruled that the former president is disqualified from holding office and so should be removed from the state’s Republican primary ballot.

Anytime Trump speaks of “dictatorships” these days we should pay attention. He has all but declared his intention to engage in dictatorial rule should he win in 2024. It isn’t clear, then, whether his statement, in a fundraising missive fired off minutes after the news broke, was meant as a condemnation of the ruling or a prediction of how he would handle such legal setbacks should he be returned to the White House.

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