Why is today's Supreme Court hearing the most important election case in a quarter century?

By hearing Trump's argument to be reinstated on Colorado's ballot, the court risks becoming an election-year spoiler

Photo collage of Donald Trump's face, a dictionary, and a book compilation of tweets from Trump
Can someone accused of fomenting an insurrection legally run for president?
(Image credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images)

It was perhaps ironic that when the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing arguments from attorneys for former President Donald Trump as to why their client should be reinstated onto Colorado's primary election ballot, the first justice to ask a question was none other than Clarence Thomas — the only member of the current court who served on the bench for the monumental Bush v. Gore hearing that essentially decided the results of the 2000 presidential election. Like that case, Thursday's hearing for Trump v. Anderson presents an unprecedented legal dilemma that could very well shift the trajectory of American democracy for years to come. 

Similarly ironic is the fact that Thomas is arguably the single most controversial justice in regard to this case, given his wife Ginni's involvement in the very acts that played into Colorado's decision to exclude Trump in the first place. Suffice it to say, Trump v. Anderson is as fraught and thorny a case as it is seismic and consequential. 

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.