The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a case attempting to remove former President Donald Trump from the presidential ballot in 2024.
The suit was brought by John Anthony Castro, a tax attorney who switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican following the 2020 presidential election.
Castro alleged that Trump violated the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, which says that public officials are not eligible to hold office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the U.S.
“A primary candidate has judicial standing to bring a claim challenging the eligibility of a fellow primary candidate for competitive injury in the form of a diminution of votes and/or fundraising if the primary candidate believes that the fellow primary candidate is ineligible to hold public office and to prevent actions irreconcilable with the U.S. Constitution,” the longshot Republican wrote to the court.
“The framers of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment specifically designed it to remove overwhelming popular pro-insurrectionists from the ballot. As such, Castro is not simply within the ‘zone’ of interests; Castro is the precise type of person that the framers of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment specifically sought to politically protect while Trump is the precise type of person they sought to disqualify,” he added.
This comes as Trump’s political enemies are looking to keep him from the presidential ballot using the Fourteenth Amendment for his alleged role in the Capitol riot. Trump has denied his involvement in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021
Lawmakers from both political spectrums have been using the Fourteenth Amendment’s “disqualification” clause in an attempt to remove candidates that they don’t agree with. Political experts, however, warn that using the Civil War-era clause would just cause frustration among voters.
Despite the opposition’s efforts, Trump is still the leading pick as the Republican presidential candidate, according to a recent poll. The Economist and YouGov asked around 1,500 U.S. adult citizens between August 26 and 29 who they would vote for if “the Republican presidential primary in your state were held today.”
Results show that 51 percent are in favor of Trump, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes in second with 14 percent.
