Taylor Sheridan got political in a candid Jan. 4 appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience," joining the comedian and podcast host in criticizing Colorado's recent decision to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot. "That's dangerous s***," said the "Yellowstone" creator, adding that the move is a prelude to "dictatorship."
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The Colorado Supreme Court removed Trump from the primary ballot of the 2024 presidential election, citing his role in the January 6th insurrection. Trump has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
"People can think of Donald Trump however they want to think of Donald Trump. It really doesn't matter who the individual is," Sheridan said. "A court in Colorado is going to essentially make a decision based upon a trial that has not happened yet. They're basically saying he's guilty of something he hasn't been tried for, and they're removing him from a ballot."
Sheridan added that the decision sets a dangerous precedent, regardless of political party: "Right now, maybe, the Democrats feel they are justified in that action because they're so terrified of what Donald Trump may do if he becomes president again, but are they thinking about what's going to happen in 20 years or 30 years because this has now been established?
"Another party will be in control, and that party can use all these manipulations of rules to maintain control. And that's when you start to have a dictatorship, regardless of left or right. It doesn't make a difference."
Throughout the wide-ranging conversation, Sheridan and Rogan criticized corruption across the political spectrum. The former also weighed in on political polarization, recalling the sense of unity Americans felt in the wake of the September 11th attacks and before the Iraq War.
"People had forgotten that Al Gore and the Democratic Party—and I didn't vote for George W. Bush—they contested that election then. They said it was rigged. They took it to the Supreme Court. We didn't have a president, really, for almost two months," Sheridan remembered of the 2000 election.
"Cut to a year later and he's woefully unpopular, and then 9/11 happens. And he gave the best speech of his entire presidency, I thought, that galvanized the nation. I lived in L.A. at the time that that happened, and everybody — they'd see a fireman or a policeman and they'd say, 'Hey, thank you for your service.'"
