Can Trump Be on the Ballot?

Feb 14, 2024

On Feb. 8, 2024, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in in response to the former president鈥檚 appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court鈥檚 decision banning him from that state鈥檚 presidential ballot. Justices to rule in Trump鈥檚 favor.

Days later, Trump to the Supreme Court, asking for a delay in the Special Counsel鈥檚 proceedings against him after a lower federal court ruled he was not immune from prosecution for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The nation鈥檚 highest court is tilted to the right with three ultra-conservatives , one of whom is married to an .

In conversation with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, , a former state of California administrative law judge and contributor, discussed the two cases, where they overlap, and the constitutional crisis they could potentially spark.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.