In Michigan, the state Supreme Court dismissed an appeal to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot based on the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. The decision clashes with the Colorado court’s ruling last week to disqualify Trump from the ballot on the same grounds.
But Michigan’s court simply declined to take up the question of whether Trump is eligible to run in the general election. Punting here allows for future attempts to bar him from the general election ballot if he becomes the Republican nominee.
Michigan’s hesitancy may be because the US Supreme Court will likely take up the Colorado case in the coming weeks. Michigan can leave it to them to answer the big questions that underpin insurrection argument, such as:
- Can the insurrection clause be used to disqualify a president for actions he took while in office?
- What Pandora’s Box opens if states can kick presidential candidates off their ballots?
- What exactly is an insurrection anyway? Etc., etc.
Trump applauded the Michigan court’s decision, posting that the 14th amendment cases are “pathetic gambits to rig the election… like they stole 2020” on Truth Social.
The legal imbroglio entrenches the belief of many Trump supporters that the 2020 election was rigged, and the perception that Democrats are conducting a legal witch hunt to ensure Mr. Trump can’t run again.
Trump’s claims of election fraud is even undermining Republicans’ faith in their own primary. Polls show that less than half of Republican voters feel confident that their votes will be counted accurately in the upcoming GOP primaries.
Like in 2000, it appears the Supreme Court could once again be in a position to determine the trajectory of the presidential election. There are a multitude of shock-wave cases knocking on the Supreme Court’s door. Any of which could determine Trump’s trajectory in the 2024 election.
The Supreme Court is all but guaranteed to take up the Colorado case to prevent the chaos of only 49 out of 50 states’ ballots having the Republican frontrunner on the ballot. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has already announced it will decide the fate of those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6th before June, in a case that will have implications for the stalled insurrection case in the DC courts.