The Supreme Court of Michigan yesterday refused to disqualify the former president of the United States Donald Trump - candidate for the 2024 elections - from the White House elections for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The Michigan Supreme Court's decision contrasts with last week's decision by the Colorado Supreme Court, which did disqualify Trump from the 2024 election under the same legal premise.
The plaintiffs – who were upheld by the state of Colorado in an unprecedented decision – appealed to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits people who have participated in an insurrection from holding elected office. This amendment was passed in 1868, after the American Civil War, to prevent people associated with southern Confederate uprisings from coming to power.
Unlike in Colorado, in Michigan the magistrates have argued that the case raises a political question that should not be resolved by justice and reject the lawsuit without even holding a trial.
These two rulings, for the moment, only affect Colorado and Michigan, since in the federal system of the United States each state separately – and not the nation – is responsible for organizing the elections.
Trump hailed the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in a statement published on his Truth social network, noting that the ruling "firmly and legitimately negates the desperate attempt" by Democrats to remove him from the ballot in that state. "Colorado is the only state that has been a victim of the plan", pointed out the former president, who in the past has claimed, without showing evidence, that he is a victim of "electoral interference".
"A sad day in the United States," Trump wrote last week on his social network after the negative ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court. "What a shame for our country!!!", he added, suggesting that the United States is becoming a "banana republic" and that the decision was another example of "electoral interference".
In another tweet he asserted that President Biden "should withdraw all these false political accusations against me, both criminal and civil. Every case I fight is a matter for the Department of Justice and the White House. Something like this has never happened in our country."
There is no indication, however, that the Justice Department or the White House had anything to do with the Colorado Supreme Court's decision.
In yesterday's message, Trump confirmed what his spokesmen advanced last week: the intention is to appeal the ruling in Colorado to the Supreme Court of the United States. This would leave in the hands of the Supreme Court – should it choose to accept the appeal – the final decision on whether the Fourteenth Amendment can be used in Trump's case and whether or not he can run for the 2024 presidential election.
Six of the nine members of the High Court are considered conservative, three of them nominated by Trump himself during his term.
The Republican primaries begin on January 15 with the Iowa caucuses, and Trump starts as the favorite according to all the polls to face the November election for the White House again to the current president, the Democrat Joe Biden.
After the Colorado ruling, President Biden stated that it is "obvious" that Trump "supported an insurgency" with his participation in the events that led to the storming of the Capitol.
At first Biden did not want to comment on the court decision, although when asked if Trump is guilty of sedition, he was clear about it. "Obviously, you all saw it. Whether the Fourteenth Amendment is applicable is for the Court to decide, but he certainly supported an insurrection and there is no doubt about that. none Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on his bet anyway,” Biden noted of Trump.
The Colorado court considered that "President Trump is disqualified to hold the office of president."
"Because he is disqualified, it would be an illegal act under the Electoral Code for the Secretary of State of Colorado to include him as a candidate in the presidential primary," added the court.
