Judge Saves Donald Trump's Campaign

A Michigan judge denied a request to keep Donald Trump off the Michigan 2024 presidential primary ballot on Tuesday—a not-so-small victory for the frontrunner of the upcoming election.

Trump continues to face a growing list of legal battles, as the former president also faces legal action from many states aiming to remove him from the presidential ballot in the 2024 elections, a move that could seriously impede his efforts if successful. A number of lawsuits have already been filed in several states such as Michigan, Colorado and Arizona as the challengers cite the 14th Amendment and argue that Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were an attempted insurrection and therefore bar him from holding elected office again. Trump has strongly dismissed the validity of these arguments.

On Tuesday, Michigan Judge James Redford denied a request to keep Trump off the Michigan 2024 presidential primary ballot and said that the request is a "political question" and not a question to be decided by the courts.

"The question of whether Donald J. Trump is qualified or disqualified from appearing on the 2024 general election ballot in Michigan is not ripe for adjudication at this time," the judge ruled.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump via email for comment.

In response to the ruling, Trump campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung addressed Michigan's case along with others across the country in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, "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 ruling stems from three separate cases in which Redford heard arguments last week on whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to keep Donald Trump's name off state ballots for president.

Activists have sued Benson, a Democrat, in the Michigan Court of Claims to force her to keep Trump's name off ballots and to assess Trump's constitutional qualifications to serve a second term as president. Robert Davis, who filed the lawsuit against Benson in September, argued that Benson should bar Trump from the state's ballot under the 14th Amendment.

"I'm glad the court is treating this as an emergency and expediting it in every way," Davis told the Detroit Metro Times.

The ruling comes at a critical time as Trump has recently been shown to be leading President Joe Biden in five out of the six key swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to a New York Times & Siena College poll released last week.

Despite Trump's win to keep his name on Michigan's ballot, the former president continues to face another significant lawsuit in Colorado as the trial into removing the former president's name off the Colorado ballot is underway.

Trump is facing a lawsuit from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) challenging his candidacy in the Centennial State over his alleged involvement in the January 6 riot.

Meanwhile, former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, serving as Trump's attorney in the suit, insisted speech—or lack of speech—is not engaging in an insurrection.

"The failure to do something is the opposite of the word 'engaged.' President Trump didn't engage. He didn't carry a pitchfork to the Capitol grounds, he didn't lead a charge, he didn't get into a fistfight with legislators. He gave a speech in which he asked people to peacefully and patriotically go to the Capitol and protest," Gessler said, according to CBS News.

In addition, John Anthony Castro, a Texas resident and long-shot candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, has filed numerous lawsuits across the country seeking to bar Trump from state ballots, including one in New Hampshire, a key early primary state.