(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A Russian election commission on Saturday banned a pro-peace politician from challenging Vladimir Putin in the upcoming elections, sparking sarcastic reactions aimed at the Colorado Supreme Court from some pro-Donald Trump supporters on Twitter.
Observers drew comparisons between Russia’s decision to bar presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova and the infamous ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court against Trump, which prohibited former president from appearing on the Republican primary ballot in 2024.
The Reactions followed Russia’s Central Election Commission’s ban on Duntsova, a former legislator and pro-peace candidate, from challenging Putin in 2024 due to errors in filed documents, according to the Associated Press.
Sound familiar?
Yekaterina Duntsova barred from running against Putin in election https://t.co/vze1awK36M
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) December 23, 2023
Among those drawing comparisons between Duntsova’s exclusion and actions against Trump was author Glenn Greenwald.
“What kind of monstrous dictatorship bans a candidate who wants to seek office from appearing on the ballot?” questioned Greenwald on Twitter, before adding, “I shudder to think what it must be like to be a citizen of such a country.”
Echoing Greenwald, the Federalist CEO Sean David said, “Who does Putin think he is blocking an anti-war candidate from the ballot? Joe Biden?”
Anger in the United States after Russian presidential hopeful Yekaterina Duntsova, who wants peace with Ukraine, is blocked by the election commission
Correct me if I’m wrong. I think removing candidates from the ballot happens only in Russia and banana republics, not in the USA pic.twitter.com/Sk2leu02GZ
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) December 24, 2023
Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grennel commented, “The U.S. Left is doing the same thing,” while Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi simply reacted with: “Outrageous!”
Only despots and tyrants in authoritarian regimes keep a political rival off the ballot… wait a minute. https://t.co/G5kfhFwjom
— Branden Durst, MPA, EdS (@brandendurst) December 23, 2023
The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from seeking the presidency in 2024 due to his alleged role in a so-called “insurrection” on Jan. 6. The court barred Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballots citing the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
The ruling baffled commentators, the Colorado GOP, legal scholars and even Trump critics, as Trump has neither been indicted nor convicted on any insurrection charges.
In Russia, Duntsova was barred from seeking the presidency due to over 100 errors in her nomination filings, including seemingly innocuous errors like misspelled names, the Associated Press reported.
Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission, advised Duntsova to maintain a positive outlook. “You are a young woman, you still have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus,” she claimed, according to the Associated Press.
Duntsova had gained the support of 500 Russian citizens in the initial steps, as required by Russian law. Both Duntsova and Trump are preparing to appeal their respective bans to their nations’ highest courts.
