OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump responded to a Michigan Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday after justices refused to remove him from the state’s 2024 presidential and primary ballots.
Trump sang the state high court’s praises for having “strongly and rightfully” rejected a bid to remove him under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection” clause.
“The Michigan Supreme Court has strongly and rightfully denied the Desperate Democrat attempt to take the leading Candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election, me, off the ballot in the Great State of Michigan,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“This pathetic gambit to rig the Election has failed all across the Country, including in States that have historically leaned heavily toward the Democrats. Colorado is the only State to have fallen prey to the scheme,” the post continued. “That 4-3 Colorado Supreme Court decision, which they themselves stayed, thus keeping me on the ballot as we go up to the U.S. Supreme Court, is being ridiculed and mocked all over the World.
“…[J]ust look at the complete mess we have as a result with Crooked Joe Biden violently destroying everything in his sight, from our once-great Economy to our once-fair Justice System. We have to save our Country from decline and the Radical Left. Make America Great Again!” he added.
Given contradictory rulings from Colorado and other states that have refused to remove Trump, the anticipated appeals to the US Supreme Court take on even greater significance, particularly as the country gears up for the 2024 primaries. The lawsuit in Michigan, in contrast to the one in Colorado, was dismissed before it ever reached trial. A court that heard appeals from lower courts affirmed the dismissal of the case.
According to the judge who initially heard the case from Michigan’s Court of Claims, there is no room in state law for election officials to verify the eligibility of candidates for the presidential primary. He went on to say that the courts had no business deciding the case because it posed a political question.
The Michigan Supreme Court did not release a vote count, and the order was unsigned.
The courts in Michigan, in contrast to their Colorado counterparts, dismissed the case entirely due to procedural issues. They skirted the issue of whether or not Trump participated in an ‘insurrection’ on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a Wednesday piece, one of the justices from Michigan explained how their state differs from Colorado.
“The anti-Trump challengers have identified no analogous provision in the Michigan Election Law that requires someone seeking the office of President of the United States to attest to their legal qualification to hold the office,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote, drawing a comparison between Michigan law and Colorado’s election code.
Post-Civil War ratification of the 14th Amendment prohibits “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office for officials who pledge allegiance to the Constitution. Disqualified were thousands of former Confederates under the provision. The vague language does not even refer to the presidency, and there have only been two applications since 1919.
Free Speech For People, an advocacy group, sued the state of Michigan in September on behalf of certain voters. Additionally, it has lately filed a case in Oregon and attempted to challenge Trump’s eligibility for the presidency in Minnesota, but was unsuccessful.
A different liberal-leaning group filed the lawsuit in Colorado.
The Colorado Supreme Court, which is entirely comprised of justices nominated by Democrats, rendered a controversial and ground-breaking decision last week. The state’s highest court ruled 4-3 to disqualify Trump from the state’s Republican primary election in 2024.
Several legal experts — on the left, right, and in the middle, politically — have criticized the Colorado decision and have predicted that it will be quickly overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps even unanimously.
