Michigan's Court of Appeals says that former President Donald Trump can remain on the state's 2024 GOP primary ballot.
In other words, another attempt to use the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to disqualify Trump from seeking the presidency in 2024 has failed.
ABC News reports, "The court said in a 3-0 opinion that the plaintiff's challenge was not 'ripe' on procedural grounds and did not specifically rule on whether Trump fell under the disqualification clause."
There is still a possibility, however, that the matter will be appealed to the state's highest court. It should be noted that although Michigan's Supreme Court did previously reject an interlocutory appeal, it has not rejected an appeal of a final decision. So, there is still the possibility that the state's highest court will hear the case.
This is one of several efforts in which anti-Trump groups are attempting to put an end to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
To do so, these groups have invoked Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which, in part, states:
No person shall . . . hold any office . . . under the United States . . . who, having previously taken an oath . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same . . .
The claim is that Trump took such an oath when he became president and that he "engaged in insurrection" on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol protest.
This argument has been criticized by legal experts, and - as this Michigan case demonstrates - it is failing to gain any real traction in the courts.
Michigan's Court of Appeals released a decision in which it explained why it ruled in Trump's favor.
In doing so, it did not really get into the Section Three Fourteenth Amendment argument. Rather, it relied on procedure.
"As the Court of Claims recognized, it would be improper to decide whether to grant a declaration that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President of the United States at this time," the court wrote.
It added:
At the moment, the only event about to occur is the presidential primary election. But as explained, whether Trump is disqualified is irrelevant to his placement on that particular ballot. Thus, with respect to the presidential primary election, there is no actual controversy, as the only purported basis for removing Trump from the presidential primary ballot would not be a sufficient basis for removal of Trump's name from that ballot.
Steven Chueng, a spokesman for Trump's 2024 campaign, has released a statement celebrating the ruling.
Cheung said:
With the Michigan Court of Appeals' affirmation of the Trump campaign's victories in the lower court, the Soros-funded Democrats have once again failed in their desperate attempt to interfere in the election via a bad-faith interpretation of the 14th Amendment. President Trump remains undefeated against these frivolous legal claims and has never been in a stronger position to win next year's election
