![CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten laid out Wednesday an electoral path to victory for former President Donald Trump that does not include Colorado. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-20-at-9.58.50-AM-e1703084373532.png "CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten laid out Wednesday an electoral path to victory for former President Donald Trump that does not include Colorado. [Screenshot CNN]")
CNN’s senior data reporter Harry Enten laid out Wednesday an electoral path to victory for former President Donald Trump that does not include Colorado.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Trump violated the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” and is ineligible to be on the ballot in the state. The ruling is on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court until Jan. 4, and the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, when the statutory deadline is to set the list of candidates for the Republican primary.
Enten explained that even if Trump is not allowed on the Colorado ballot pending the Supreme Court’s decision, it won’t make or break his chances at re-election.
“This is a state that was safe for Biden, even before the ruling came out, solid for Biden according to the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections. Safe for Biden according to Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the last Republican candidate to carry the state of Colorado was George W. Bush back in 2004. It was a state that Joe Biden easily carried back in 2020, won it by nearly 14 points. And if you look back to 2016, remember this is when Donald Trump was able to win in the Electoral College, he did it through those Great Lake battleground states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. You notice over here, Colorado is blue. Colorado is blue. The fact is Donald Trump does not need the state of Colorado in order to win the presidential election and it’s so late in the primary season it doesn’t matter there either.”
WATCH:
“Looking at 2024 more broadly, how is Trump’s path to 270 looking?” CNN’s Poppy Harlow asked. (RELATED: ‘This Is Dead Wrong’: Turley Blasts ‘Fundamentally Flawed’ Ruling By Colorado Court Barring Trump From Ballot)
“Even without Colorado, let’s sort of just map this out for you. Donald Trump’s electoral votes, remember 270, are needed to win. States he won in 2020, you see that there. He is at 235. States he lost but now leads in, 67. That total combined 302 because he is leading in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, states that he lost in 2020, but of course, there is this bigger question. Is Trump guilty of subverting the 2020 election? The majority of Americans actually say, ‘yes,’ despite the fact that Trump is leading the polls. But it’s pretty much a dead split when you add in the ‘no’ and the ‘unsure,’ that gets you up to 48%, a divided country.”
Despite the ruling, Trump remains ahead in polls against President Joe Biden. Biden’s approval rating continues to sink, specifically on his handling of the border crisis and the Israel-Hamas war. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Tuesday found Trump leading Biden in a 2024 matchup among youth voters 49% to 43%.