(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
OAN’s Stephanie Stahl
4:51 PM – Wednesday, November 8, 2023
The Minnesota Supreme Court has allowed former President Donald Trump to remain on the state’s GOP primary ballot, as they rejected a lawsuit invoking the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.”
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This clause, which prohibits individuals who have “engaged in insurrection” from holding office, was the basis for the lawsuit. However, the court decided that state law permits political parties to choose their primary ballot candidates as they see fit.
The court’s decision is seen as a win for the former president in terms of the 2024 GOP primary, where he maintains a substantial lead in recent polling.
BREAKING: The Minnesota Supreme Court has DENIED a request to exclude former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot based on the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause. pic.twitter.com/mxfDgycHLH
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) November 8, 2023
The 14th Amendment, originally ratified after the Civil War, imposes a ban on individuals who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and subsequently engaged in insurrection from holding future office.
Nonetheless, the Amendment does not specify how to enforce this ban, and it has been applied only twice in the last century.
While the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision allows Trump to participate in the GOP primary, it leaves open the possibility for the challengers to renew their claims if he wins the Republican nomination.
The court emphasized that there is no state statute preventing a major political party from including a candidate ineligible to hold office on the presidential nomination primary ballot.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the decision “is further validation of the Trump Campaign’s consistent argument that the 14th Amendment ballot challenges are nothing more than strategic, un-Constitutional attempts to interfere with the election.”
These lawsuits “should be summarily thrown out wherever they next arise,” Cheung said.
A social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter, reposted Trump’s reaction to the case being dismissed, which he originally posted on Truth Social, where Trump called the lawsuit “unconstitutional.”
Ridiculous 14th Amendment lawsuit just thrown out by Minnesota Supreme Court. “Without Merit, Unconstitutional.”Congratulations to all who fought this HOAX!
Donald Trump Truth Social Post 05:08 PM EST 11/08/23
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 8, 2023
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