Former President Donald Trump is warning there will be "big trouble" for the United States if the Supreme Court doesn't treat him fairly and rule that he's eligible for the 2024 presidential primary ballots.
"I just hope we get fair treatment," Trump said during a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, Friday, reported The Hill. "Because if we don't, our country's in big, big trouble. Does everybody understand what I'm saying?"
The Supreme Court earlier on Friday said it will hear Trump's case stemming from the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to keep him off the state's primary ballot because of his alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Trump remains in Iowa on Saturday, where he plans to be in Newton, in the central part of the state, before heading to Clinton for a rally later in the day. Friday, he held a pair of commit-to-caucus events in Iowa, one in the far northwestern corner of the state on the border with South Dakota and one in north-central Mason City.
Trump Friday also claimed Democrats are casting doubt on the Supreme Court because he appointed three of its justices.
"They're saying, 'Oh, Trump owns the Supreme Court; he owns it. He owns it. If they make a decision for him, it will be terrible. It'll ruin their reputations,'" he said. "'He owns the Supreme Court. He put on three judges. He owns the Supreme Court. If they rule in his favor, it will be horrible for them. And we'll protest at their houses.'"
But such pressure is pushing "people to do the wrong thing," Trump added.
"What they're doing is no different than Bobby Knight," he said, making a reference to the late basketball coach who became famous for his arguments with referees.
In Colorado, the justices ruled that Trump's actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protests came under the "insurrection clause" of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era provision disqualifying people who have committed insurrection against the country from holding office.
Trump has been removed from Maine's ballot under the same argument, and challenges are being discussed in more than a dozen states, meaning a ruling by the Supreme Court in his favor could end such arguments about his qualifications for the ballots.