Former US President Donald Trump is eligible to run in Michigan’s 2024 presidential election for the Republican Party, a state court has ruled. A local activist group had tried to stop Trump from running for office by issuing a “revoltlawsuit against him.
Judge James Redford of the Michigan Court of Claims issued his ruling on Tuesday. The decision followed a legal bid from the liberal activist group Free Speech for People, which had argued that Trump’s alleged role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot should disqualify him from campaigning for elected office.
In his sentencing, Redford explained that the decision or the events of January 6 were a “uprising or uprising, and whether or not anyone took part in it‘must be deferred to Congress. He further emphasized that Michigan election authorities do not have the power to remove Trump from the ballot.
Free Speech for People had invoked Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era constitutional clause that states that a person cannot run for elected office if he “involved in rebellion or rebellionagainst the Constitution after taking an oath to support it.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said his team welcomed the decision and “anticipates future dismissals of the other 14th Amendment cases.”
Trump, who is comfortably leading his rivals for the Republican nomination according to multiple polls, has faced similar lawsuits in other states, some of which have already been dismissed by courts. Although the Republican troublemaker has been at the center of a litany of legal battles, he has never been charged with insurrection.
A lawsuit against Trump was dismissed by the Minnesota Supreme Court last week, while a ruling in a similar case in Colorado is expected on Friday.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Republican John Anthony Castro of Texas to block Trump from seeking re-election in 2024 under the 14th Amendment.
Trump is also being tried on federal conspiracy charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, making him the first former US head of state to face a federal charge.
Elsewhere, the Republican frontrunner faces federal charges related to his handling of top-secret government documents, while in New York he also faces charges from both the city and state.
The former president has repeatedly dismissed the legal challenges against him as politically motivated ‘witch hunt‘ designed to derail his 2024 chances.
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