Throwback to When the Supreme Court Declined Donald Trump's Disqualification from the 2024 Elections

Former President Donald Trump recently scored a major win in the Third Quarter as a Republican candidate by overtaking rivals to accumulate a total of $45.5 Million for the upcoming elections, as per Reuters. However, when it comes to being up against the opposition, the Democrats, he sadly lost big. As per reports, Joe Biden completely overtook Trump for the Third Quarter funds gathered. As per CNN, Biden presently has about $71 million in his arsenal, which is worth way more than what the Republicans have gathered together. Nonetheless, perhaps for Trump, good news comes in waves, and some more pleasant news came in the form of the recent verdict by the Supreme Court regarding Trump's eligibility for the 2024 election season. 

According to another report by CNN, the Supreme Court shut down attempts to disqualify the former President from participating in the upcoming 2024 Elections. This is incredibly relieving news for Trump’s campaign, as this matter is understandably quite stressful given its gravity and impact. If the court were to have accepted the said plea, it would’ve possibly resulted in chaos and distress for the twice-impeached former President. However, the court apparently ruled in favor of Trump this time despite his other ongoing legal challenges.

John Anthony Castro, Trump's political rival in the Republican party, is the one who sought to challenge Trump’s eligibility based on the 14th Amendment clause, as per The Hill. In the lawsuit, the Texan tax consultant alluded to Trump's reported participation in the January 6 riots. Specifically, Castro argued that the former President gave "his aid and comfort to the convicted criminals and insurrectionists that violently attacked our United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, which results in disqualification to hold public office according to the self-executing nature of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution." However, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, claiming it was rather weak and without a firm foundation of legal evidence.

The 14th Amendment, which has been in place since the Civil War, has to do with the eligibility criteria for American officials. As per this provision, any official who has previously taken an oath to uphold the constitution can be disqualified from holding office in the future if they were 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' or gave 'aid or comfort to insurrectionists.'  

It's worth noting that even if Castro had, in any manner, succeeded in getting Trump disqualified, it still would have given him no advantage of any sort, mainly due to the intense competition between other Republican rivals and the fact that he failed to meet the basic criteria to partake in electoral activities, including the GOP debate. Moreover, it was also reported that Castro's campaign mainly centered around a few photo-ops and building a website. Nonetheless, this is one of several lawsuits against Trump citing the 14th Amendment, and the rest have yet to be heard by courts.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on October 18, 2023. It has since been updated.