“The reason Lincoln did not appear in the Southern states largely is because the Republican Party was new and decided not to organise and print ballots in those states.

“If the Democrats are eager for civil war, I suppose this would be the way to do it.”

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was cited in the ruling, the first time in history that the provision was used to block a presidential contender’s campaign.

The Colorado high court ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection as a result of the Jan 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol in the wake of his election loss to Joe Biden.

Knowles hit out at liberals in America, saying they are acting in an anti-democratic matter in attempting to silence Trump.

He told Rees-Mogg: “when they say that we need to protect our sacred democracy, when they say Donald Trump threatens our sacred democracy, they don’t really mean democracy.

“What they’re referring to is liberalism and liberalism and democracy are rather different things.

“When they come into conflict, the Democrats will always choose liberalism. This is why we hear that the Brexit in your country was an assault on democracy.

“How is it an assault on democracy when most people vote for something?”