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SALT LAKE CITY — It's no secret that Utah's Republican governor is not the biggest fan of former President Donald Trump. Spencer Cox has repeatedly said he doesn't think Trump can win again in 2024 and has consistently charted a path away from the bellicose rhetoric and style the former president has popularized within the Republican Party.
But Cox said Wednesday he disagrees with the Colorado Supreme Court, a day after it ruled that Trump should be barred from the state's 2024 presidential ballot, saying it should be up to the voters to decide whether Trump is fit for office.
"If it's a close call at all, we should let the people decide," Cox told reporters during his monthly news conference. "And even though I've said many times, I thought Donald Trump did some good things as president, I thought he did some terrible things as president, and I don't think he should be president again, I really don't. But I hope that the people of the United States will figure that out and can make those decisions. That's a better way to decide this issue."
The Colorado Supreme Court based its ruling on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era provision that bars those who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion ... or given aid or comfort to the enemies" of the United States from holding civil or military office.
The court concluded that Trump's efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election — which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — make him ineligible for the ballot. Its ruling applies only to Colorado's March 5 Republican primary, but would also likely impact the Nov. 5 general election if it holds.
"We conclude that the foregoing evidence, the great bulk of which was undisputed at trial, established that President Trump engaged in insurrection," the court's opinion states.
Trump's team has said it will appeal the decision, and similar lawsuits in other states mean the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cox said it's "very unlikely" that the Supreme Court would uphold the Colorado decision and he hopes the justices would consider the issue "very quickly so that we can get that settled."
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah's top election official, said in a video that the Colorado decision likely will not affect elections in Utah in the near future.
The Utah Republican Party has opted to hold caucus votes in lieu of a traditional presidential primary election in 2024. Parties will have to certify the names of their nominees for president by Aug. 31, 2024, to the lieutenant governor, Henderson said.
"But for now, the Colorado ruling has no impact, at least at the moment, on how we are going to be operating in the near future," she said.
While he said he understands the "legal questions" surrounding Trump's eligibility, Cox said he has "a lot of issues with the ruling" and called it "a mistake."
When it comes to ballot access, Cox said courts "always err on the side of putting the person on the ballot, even when it's very clear that the person has missed a deadline that should keep them off the ballot, or whatever it is."
"We've never had a case like this one, really," he said. "I don't think it's anything like the Civil War cases. That was pretty clear, when you have a literal civil war and secession from the Union, we all know what that meant. Whether the events of Jan. 6 qualify in this case or not and whether the president was even thought to be part of that Section 3, it's not clear."
