Former President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. Supreme Court will “intervene” and rule in his favor by keeping him on 2024 primary ballots across the nation despite challenges, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he has faith that the justices on the high court are “not going to take the vote away from the people.”
Trump sat down for an exclusive interview in New Hampshire with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The interview aired Thursday night on Fox News Channel and came just days before the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary, set for Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Several states, like Maine and Colorado, are looking to remove Trump from the 2024 GOP primary ballot in the state, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, or, the “Disqualifications Clause.”
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump points to supporters at the conclusion of a campaign rally at the Atkinson Country Club on January 16, 2024 in Atkinson, New Hampshire. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
MAINE SUPERIOR COURT ISSUES A STAY ON STATE’S DECISION TO BAR TRUMP FROM PRIMARY BALLOT
That clause bars individuals who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against America, or aided those engaged in such, from holding office.
Trump has never been charged with insurrection.
“We put on three great justices, and you have some other great justices up there, and they’re not going to take the vote away from the people,” Trump said.
Trump, as president, nominated and had confirmed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
“You saw in the history of the Iowa primary…it goes back a long time…I won by the most,” Trump said. “Nobody’s ever won, as you know…there’s nobody even close. I doubled up and more than doubled up.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks after exiting the courtroom for a break at New York Supreme Court, Dec. 7, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
Trump dominated the Iowa Caucuses, winning 98 of 99 counties. He lost one single county by one single vote. Trump collected 20 delegates in the state.
“I’m sure the Supreme Court is going to say we’re not going to take the vote away from the people,” Trump said.
But the former president said that it is President Biden who is “a threat to democracy.”
TRUMP APPEALS DECISION TO BAN HIM FROM MAINE BALLOT
“Biden is a threat to democracy — is an absolute threat to democracy, and he’s very dangerous for a couple of reasons,” Trump said.
The former president said Biden is “grossly incompetent, which is the number one reason,” but said the president is “actually in his own way.”
The Supreme Court is seen Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“It’s not him — it’s the people that surround him,” Trump said. “You got some very bad people surrounding him at that desk.”
Trump said the people running the Department of Justice are “young and they’re smart and they’re communists and they’re Marxists, they’re fascists, and they’re running this country.”
“They’re running it right into the ground,” Trump said.
But returning to the Supreme Court, Trump said: “I don’t think the Supreme Court would do it because, uh, you can’t take the vote — I am leading in every poll. I am leading Biden, but I am leading the remaining Republicans.”
Trump said the Supreme Court has “two votes that are very important coming up.”
TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS 14TH AMENDMENT ADVOCATES USING ‘LAWFARE’ TO ‘DEPRIVE’ VOTERS OF CHOICE IN 2024
“One, as we discussed, we call it Colorado or whatever, but you know, I really believe they’re going to leave the people to vote again,” Trump said. It’s hard to imagine they would do, and most states have already approved it, and as you know, very few states have done that.”
Trump said “this is Colorado and a couple of others at this moment.”
But Trump also said the Supreme Court is considering “immunity for the president of the United States.”
“And I’m not talking about myself,” Trump said. “I’m talking about any president has to have immunity because if you take immunity away from the president — so important — you will have a president that’s not going to be able to do anything, because when he leaves office, the opposing party president, if its the opposing party, will indict the president for doing something that should have been good.”
Trump used an example of former President Barack Obama dropping “misses and they ended up hitting a kindergarten or a school or the apartment house.”
“A lot of people were killed,” Trump said. “Well, if that’s the case, he’s going to end up being indicted when he leaves office. He meant well. The missile went in the wrong direction.”
Trump also pointed to Biden.
“Look at Biden. What would happen to Biden? He’s killed our country with his policies,” Trump said. “The border is a disaster. Everything he does is a disaster.”
TRUMP 14TH AMENDMENT BALLOT ELIGIBILITY CHALLENGER ARRESTED ON FEDERAL TAX FRAUD CHARGES
Trump pointed to the Biden administration’s withdrawal of U.S. military and assets from Afghanistan, calling it “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, giving $85 billion worth of equipment, killing our soldiers, wounding horribly our soldiers, leaving people behind.”
“Well, when he leaves office, if he doesn’t have immunity now, I think it’s horrible what he did, but he probably, I don’t know, it’s hard to believe, but he probably meant well,” Trump said. “But the man is incompetent, but you have to leave immunity with the president.”
He added: “If a president is afraid to act because they’re worried about being indicted when they leave office, a president of the United States has to have immunity, and the Supreme Court is going to be ruling on that.”
Trump said if presidents don’t have immunity, “no president is going to act.”
“You’re going to have guys that just sit in office and are afraid to do anything,” Trump said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. is expected to issue a ruling in the case brought by Trump, who is seeking to have the charges against him stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation dismissed. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump and his lawyers are arguing that he should be immune from prosecution, because he was serving as president of the United States as he pushed to investigate the results of the 2020 election.
If the Appeals Court rules against Trump, the matter will come before the U.S. Supreme Court.
