Banned in Colorado? Bring it on – in the twisted logic of Donald Trump, disqualification is no bad thing at all | Emma Brockes

Justices in the US state say the ex-president isn't fit to stand. But no matter what the courts say, he may still be a winner with voters

Ten days out from the end of the year, and who could have foreseen the latest Trump plot twist? On Wednesday morning, Americans woke to absorb the fallout from the previous day's news that Colorado - of all places - had ruled via its supreme court to ban Donald Trump from the ballot in the run-up to next year's presidential election. There are many sober things to say about this, but in the first instance let's give way to an unseemly squeal. How completely thrilling!

Colorado leans Democrat - both its senators are blue - but it's a western state with large conservative enclaves that is not exactly Massachusetts or Vermont. The decision by the state's top justices is unprecedented in US electoral history. According to their ruling, Trump is in breach of section 3 of the 14th amendment, the so-called insurrectionist ban", in light of his behaviour during the 6 January storming of the Capitol.