Former Attorney General Bill Barr came out strongly against a Colorado Supreme Court decision to bar Former President Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024, saying that it is "legally wrong" and will be overturned. 

Barr was Trump's attorney general but will not support him in the primary.

“I strongly oppose Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, but I think that this case is legally wrong and untenable,” Barr said in a CNN interview. “And I think this kind of action of stretching the law, taking these hyper-aggressive positions to try to knock Trump out of the race are counterproductive. They backfire.”

Colorado said that Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, and that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars people who engaged in insurrection from serving in elected office.

"Feeds on grievance"

The trial only involved five days of arguments and was decided without a jury. Trump supporters see the ruling as election interference that takes voting rights away from the people.

Trump has gained massive support among Republicans since being indicted four times.

The more Democrat partisans seem to go after Trump, the more support he gets. He currently has close to 70% Republican support in the latest polling, whereas in March he only had around 50%.

“He feeds on grievance just like a fire feeds on oxygen. And this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him,” Barr pointed out.

"Slap it down"

Barr said he does hold Trump responsible for January 6, when thousands of people entered the Capitol Building and caused damage.

But Barr took issue with how the case was handled and with the ruling to take Trump off the ballot.

He said he expects the Supreme Court to quickly accept the case and reverse the state court's ruling.

“I hope they do,” he said. “Take it up quickly and slap it down, because otherwise [Trump] could be left off the ballot in this primary.”

He also said the current ruling would “create chaos,” and that states would use the 14th Amendment frequently to kick politicians they dislike off ballots.

For now, Trump remains on the ballot as the Colorado Supreme Court's decision is stayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision.