Judge rules Trump can stay on Michigan ballot, rejects insurrection clause challenge

A Michigan judge ruled former President Trump can remain on the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, rejecting an attempt to remove him with a Civil War-era constitutional clause.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Redford rejected arguments made by activist groups that claimed Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol meant he was ineligible for the presidency.

Similar lawsuits have popped up in Colorado and Minnesota. The challenge in Minnesota was dismissed by the state Supreme Court last week, with justices arguing that the primary process is an internal party election and does not place the candidate on the general ballot or as president of the United States. There is no state statute that prohibits a political party from placing a nomination on the ballot, they ruled.

The Colorado case is expected to have its closing arguments Wednesday, and the judge is expected to make her decision by Friday.

In Michigan, Redford wrote that because Trump followed state law by qualifying for the primary ballot, he can’t be removed, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

It should be up to Congress to decide whether Trump can be disqualified, the judge argued.

Congress could decide if a person is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states no person who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the government can run for elected office.

Deciding if an event is deemed a “rebellion or insurrection or whether or not someone participated in it” is best left to Congress and not “one single judicial officer,” Redford said.

One judge can’t “embody the represented qualified of every citizen of the nation” the same way that the House of Representatives and the Senate do.

Free Speech for People, the group that filed the suit, said it is disappointed with the decision and will be appealing it immediately. 

“The Michigan Supreme Court should reverse this badly-reasoned lower court decision,” the organization’s legal director Ron Fein said in a statement. “While our appeal is pending, the trial court’s decision isn’t binding on any other court, and we continue our current and planned legal actions in other states to enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment against Donald Trump.” 

The Trump campaign released a statement Tuesday celebrating the court’s decision. 

“Each and every one of these ridiculous cases have LOST because they are all un-Constitutional left-wing fantasies orchestrated by monied allies of the Biden campaign seeking to turn the election over to the courts and deny the American people the right to choose their next president,” the statement reads.

The campaign said they welcome the dismissal and anticipate future dismissals and are focused on winning reelection.