The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a Michigan court on Oct. 31, 2023, to block Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from leaving his name off the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot. The filing came amid a broader wave of litigation over whether Trump is barred from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the Constitution’s clause covering people who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/749b5a86a45684ae8de51e650ae0a503?utm_source=openai))

The case did not decide the underlying eligibility question. Instead, it sought an order preventing Michigan election officials from excluding Trump from the primary ballot while the disqualification claims were being fought in court. Michigan’s legal fight was part of a larger set of state-level challenges that were beginning to work their way through courts in late 2023. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/749b5a86a45684ae8de51e650ae0a503?utm_source=openai))

Benson had already said she did not believe she had unilateral power to remove Trump from the ballot based on Section 3. That position framed the Michigan dispute as a question of who had authority to decide the issue, not a finished ruling on Trump’s eligibility. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/b5b5b90fa5a4dc916ff8ba4e727626e3?utm_source=openai))

The immediate result of the Oct. 31 filing was procedural, not final. It preserved Trump’s bid to stay on the presidential primary ballot while the courts sorted out whether the 14th Amendment challenge could succeed under Michigan law. The broader question of whether Trump could be disqualified was still unresolved on that date. ([courts.michigan.gov](https://www.courts.michigan.gov/490fd9/siteassets/case-documents/opinions-orders/coc-opinions-%28manually-curated%29/2023/23-000151-mz.pdf?utm_source=openai))