After winning Colorado ballot disqualification case, Trump calls for immunity for all US presidents

United States (US) presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Monday (Mar 4) called for immunity for any US president after he won the Colorado ballot disqualification case at the US Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court overturned a judicial decision that had excluded Trump from Colorado's ballot under a constitutional provision involving insurrection for inciting and supporting the 2021 Capitol Hill riots.

The justices unanimously reversed a December 19 decision by Colorado's top court to kick Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot on Tuesday after finding that the Constitution's 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office. The ruling was issued on the eve of Super Tuesday, the day in the US presidential primary cycle when most states hold party nominating contests.

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Trump hails SC ruling in Colorado case

Addressing the media, Trump hailed the Supreme Court's ruling. "I want to start by thanking the Supreme Court for its unanimous decision today. It was a very important decision, were very well crafted, and I think it will go a long way toward bringing our country together, which our country needs," Trump said from Mar-a-Lago.

"Essentially, you cannot take somebody out of a race because an opponent would like to have it that way. And it has nothing to do with the fact that it's the leading candidate, whether it was the leading candidate or a candidate that was well down on the totem pole. You cannot take somebody out of a race," he added.

"The voters can take the person out of the race very quickly. But a court shouldn't be doing that. And the Supreme Court saw that very well," the 77-year-old Republican added.

'If a president doesn't have full immunity...'

"While most states were thrilled to have me, there were some that did not and they did not want that because of political reasons, they did not want that because of poll numbers. We are beating President Biden in almost every poll," he further said.

Calling for immunity for a US president, Trump, the 45th president, said, "If a president doesn't have full immunity, you really don't have a president because nobody that is serving in that office will have the courage to make in many cases the right decision or it could be in some cases the wrong decision. But, they have to make decisions and they have to make them free of all terror that can be reigned upon them when they leave office or even before they leave office."

Hitting out at Joe Biden, Trump said that the president should not use "prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent to try and damage your opponent so you can win an election."

(With inputs from agencies)