0:02

I'm Brian Gottstein and this is the

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Daily Signal top news for Wednesday, December

0:06

20th. Here are

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today's headlines. Yesterday

0:22

in a 4-3 ruling, the Colorado Supreme

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Court said that former President Donald Trump

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wasn't eligible to appear on the state's

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ballot. All seven of the

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justices were appointed by Democrats. The

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court cited Section 3 of

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the 14th Amendment as the justification

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for his removal. Section

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3 says that no person shall hold

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an office who previously took an oath

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to support the Constitution and then engaged

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in insurrection or rebellion. The

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majority opinion cited U.S. Supreme Court

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Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed

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by Trump, stating that it's in

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a state's interest to protect the

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integrity and functioning of the political

1:01

process, to exclude candidates

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who are constitutionally prohibited from

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assuming office. The

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dissenting opinions in the case had harsh words

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for the decision. Justice

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Carlos Samor wrote that the decision

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to bar Trump from Colorado's presidential

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primary ballot flies in the face

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of the due process doctrine. He

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wrote that the decision risks chaos in

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the country. Trump himself

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condemned the decision. What a

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shame for our country, Trump wrote on

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the social media platform True Social. A

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sad day for America, he wrote. A

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spokesman for the Trump campaign

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said in a statement, unsurprisingly,

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the all-Democrat-appointed Colorado Supreme Court

1:43

has ruled against President Trump,

1:45

supporting a Soros-funded left-wing group

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scheme to interfere in an

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election. He said

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the justices had eliminated the rights of

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Colorado voters to vote for the candidate

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of their choice. According

1:57

to Fox News, the Colorado Republican Party

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is planning to withdraw from the state's

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primary and switch to the caucus system.

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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said

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he wouldn't participate in the Colorado

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primary if the Trump decision stands.

2:13

Heritage Foundation legal expert Hans von Spikovsky

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wrote that the Colorado decision will almost

2:18

certainly make its way to the Supreme

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Court and that it was reminiscent

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of something that would happen only in

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a banana republic. This

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is a nakedly partisan anti-democratic decision that

2:29

ignores the law and prior precedent, he

2:31

wrote for the Daily Signal. Von

2:34

Spikovsky said that Section 3 of

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the 14th Amendment applies only to

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individuals who were previously a member

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of Congress, an officer of the

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United States, or a state official.

2:45

Those who are elected, he said, such as

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the president and vice president, are

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not officers within the meaning of Section

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3. Von Spikovsky

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also noted that Section 3 enables

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Congress to remove that disqualification, which

2:58

it's done twice, in 1872 and 1898. The

3:03

1898 Amnesty Act stated

3:05

that the disqualification imposed by

3:07

Section 3 was removed. The

3:11

leader of Hamas went to Cairo today to

3:13

talk about the ongoing war with Israel in

3:16

Gaza. According to the Times of

3:18

Israel, Ismael Honnier went to

3:20

Cairo to speak to Egyptian officials about

3:22

the war and the possibility of a

3:24

ceasefire. He was also

3:26

looking for another exchange of Israeli hostages

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for Palestinian prisoners. According

3:31

to the AP, White House national security

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spokesman John Kirby said that these are

3:36

very serious discussions and negotiations, and we

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hope that they lead somewhere. Hamas

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is reportedly looking to obtain not

3:43

only prisoners, but high-ranking members of

3:45

Hamas, according to the reports. So

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far, Israel has rejected the requests.

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In November, Egypt and Qatar helped mediate

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a ceasefire in which Hamas freed over

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100 hostages in exchange

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for 240 pairs. Palestinian

4:00

prisoners. NBC

4:04

News is reporting that China's leader

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Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden

4:08

in the recent San Francisco summit

4:10

that he plans to reunify mainland

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China with Taiwan. Xi

4:14

reportedly told Biden that he prefers

4:17

to reunify peacefully. Before

4:19

the meeting, Chinese officials requested that

4:21

the United States announce that it

4:24

supports China's goal of peaceful unification

4:26

with Taiwan and doesn't support Taiwanese

4:28

independence. That request was

4:31

rejected. According to the

4:33

report, Xi's language at the meeting was blunt

4:35

but not hostile. According to

4:37

NBC, an official with knowledge of the

4:39

meeting said Xi's language was no different

4:41

than what he's always said. He's

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always tough on Taiwan. He's

4:46

always had a tough line. And

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that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you

4:53

for listening to The Daily Signal's top news.

4:55

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Thank you.