The liberals of CNN This Morning were in a very good mood on Wednesday after the far-left Colorado Supreme Court ruled to boot former President Trump off the 2024 ballot. Instead of questioning the legality of a state-level court invoking the 14th Amendment for a federal position, they celebrated the ruling as “a historic level of accountability for January 6th.” They also looked forward to future legal challenges to Trump’s validity as a candidate.
Of course, CNN had to find something in the story to be miserable about, so co-anchor Poopy Harlow kicked off the segment by groaning about the Trump campaign fundraising off the development.
“Well, the former President did not waste any time fund-raising off of this ruling, his campaign sent out emails immediately trying to fundraise, accusing Democrats of trying to keep Trump off the ballot because he will beat President Biden,” she huffed. Harlow immediately went to CNN reporter Marshall Cohen to lift her spirits back up.
Cohen couldn’t hide the smile on his face as he praised the ruling as “a historic level of accountability for January 6th and for Donald Trump's actions on January 6th.”
He did note “this is probably not the final word” and that there would be an appeal, but he didn’t let that stop him from reveling in the news:
Now, as you mentioned, this is probably not the final word because Donald Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But for this moment in time, this is a huge dose of accountability and a punishment for January 6th. The Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision ruling that Donald Trump engaged in the insurrection, that the insurrectionist ban in the 14th Amendment applies to the presidency, and he is ineligible to hold any future office, that's the finding of the majority opinion.
Before ending his report, Harlow asked Cohen to predict “what this would mean for the general election if he becomes the nominee?”
Of course, Cohen found more to be excited about in the form of “more challenges” to Trump’s validity as a candidate. He hyped the possibility that even if Trump won the 2024 presidential election, there would be legal challenges trying to prevent his inauguration.
“He'll probably be challenged again if he wins the nomination, and he could even be challenged if he wins the election, but before his inauguration,” he boasted.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN This Morning
December 20, 2023
6:02:38 a.m. Eastern(…)
POPPY HARLOW: Well, the former President did not waste any time fund-raising off of this ruling, his campaign sent out emails immediately trying to fundraise, accusing Democrats of trying to keep Trump off the ballot because he will beat President Biden.
So, let's start our coverage with CNN's Marshall Cohen, you know this case inside and out. Explain what it means to people this morning.
MARSHALL COHEN: Well, Poppy, good morning. This is a historic level of accountability for January 6th, and for Donald Trump's actions on January 6th.
Now, as you mentioned, this is probably not the final word because Donald Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But for this moment in time, this is a huge dose of accountability and a punishment for January 6th. The Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision ruling that Donald Trump engaged in the insurrection, that the insurrectionist ban in the 14th Amendment applies to the presidency, and he is ineligible to hold any future office, that's the finding of the majority opinion.
(…)
6:05:58 a.m. Eastern
HARLOW: Marshall, before you go, and your reporting on this has been really excellent, can you explain what this would mean for the general election if he becomes the nominee?
COHEN: Well, look, if he becomes the nominee, he will face more challenges. This is something that we've never grappled with before as a nation, Poppy, so there's not a lot of case law on this. He'll probably be challenged again if he wins the nomination, and he could even be challenged if he wins the election, but before his inauguration.
(…)
