The Michigan Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Friday ordering the removal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from Michigan's ballot after he dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
After RFK Jr. dropped out of the race, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, attempted to keep him on November's ballot. The motive was clear as Democrats hoped that leaving him on the ballot would divert votes from Trump.
Benson's attempt to keep Kennedy on the ballot was an obvious ploy to manipulate voters and she nearly got away with it thanks to a lower court judge who endorsed the decision to keep Kennedy on the ballot.
The Michigan Court of Appeals thankfully wasted little time in smacking down this obviously political move that was indefensibly partisan.
However, the controversy isn't over yet as Benson and Michigan Democrats have sent an emergency appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Democrats in multiple states fought for months to keep RFK Jr. off the ballot and then as soon as he endorsed Trump, swing-state Democrats are now fighting to keep him on the ballot in the hopes of helping Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Michigan Court of Appeals wrote in their decision that Benson "had no basis to deny [Kennedy's] request to withdraw his name from the ballot."
Benson had cited a Michigan state law on withdrawal requests but the appeals court found that those rules only applied to candidates running for state office, not presidential candidates.
Its worth noting that the judge that upheld Benson's claims was appointed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. That judge, Christopher Yates, wrote "Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office."
Bizarrely, it is Benson who is playing games by denying a candidate the right to withdraw from a presidential race. There is no reason to keep a candidate on a ballot who has no intention of accepting the office.
To add to evidence of Benson playing politics, Kennedy asked for his name to be withdrawn on August 23rd after dropping out. That request was left in limbo until he filed a lawsuit against Benson on August 30th.
Benson and Michigan Democrats understand the stakes in Michigan and are manipulating the rules in every way possible to achieve victory for Kamala Harris in November.
Trump and Harris are neck-and-neck in Michigan and the sluggish economy affecting the auto industry gives Trump an apparent advantage over Harris. However, Michigan is as purple as it gets and Benson's actions demonstrate that Democrats are using whatever dirty trick they can to win.
The Trump campaign and the GOP need to be watching Michigan closely as Governor Whitmer's administration cannot be trusted to be nonpartisan in administering the election there.
