TULSA, Okla. — A candidate for President out of Texas filed a lawsuit on Sept. 6 that seeks to bar Donald Trump from being on the 2024 ballot in Oklahoma.
The lawsuit is similar to several being filed across the country, citing the 14th amendment as to why Trump should be ineligible to be on the ballot.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states, "No person ... or elector of President and Vice-President ... shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."
The write-in candidate John Anthony Castro claims Trump provided aid or comfort to those who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The suit is filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Trump and the Secretary of the Oklahoma State Election Board are named.
Castro says the 14th Amendment has an implied cause of action for another candidate to get relief if there is a political competitive injury because a candidate engaged in or provided aid or comfort to an insurrection. The relief Castro is seeking — to have Trump off the ballot.
Castro cites multiple statements and actions by Trump that he believes prove his argument, including on Sept. 29, 2020, when Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and standby."
The lawsuit also details the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol where Trump said on live TV two weeks later, presumably to the supporters at the Capitol, "we love you, you're very special."
On Jan. 29, 2022, Trump said, "If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons."
Castro's lawsuit argues that statement promised insurrectionists aid in the form of executive pardons for their criminal attempt to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results.
On June 22, 2023, Trump held a fundraiser for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists — this is another form of aid Castro argues Trump provided.
Whether these cases will hold up in court is unprecedented, with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment only having been once since 1919, when Victor Berger of Wisconsin was banned from being seated in the House of Representatives over his views on socialism.
Trump's team has until Sept. 27 to respond to the lawsuit.
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