The Guardian view on Trump’s legal woes in Colorado: he needs to be beaten politically

A shock ruling by the state's supreme court has barred him from its presidential ballot

Like so many troubles, the legal cases dogging Donald Trump come not singly but in battalions. News of the bombshell ruling by the Colorado supreme court on Tuesday - barring him from the state's 2024 presidential ballot under the US constitution's insurrection clause - soon jostled for space with the latest wrangles over his indictment by the special counsel Jack Smith for attempting to overturn the last election.

Until this year, no president or former president had ever been indicted. Mr Trump now faces 91 felony counts. But he also faces multiple cases directly challenging his candidacy under section 3 of the 14th amendment, which bars insurrectionists from holding office. The Colorado challenge is not only the first to be upheld against Mr Trump, after attempts in other states failed, but it is the first time that the clause has been used against a presidential candidate since its inception in the wake of the civil war. While Mr Trump does not need Colorado, a Democratic state, the case may encourage those bringing suits elsewhere.