The US Supreme Court will rule on President’s Trump eligibility to hold office next month.
A federal judge in Nevada has dismissed a lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump off the state’s ballot, ruling that the political challenger lacked standing because he was “creating his own injury.”
John Anthony Castro, a long-shot GOP presidential candidate, has filed and lost several lawsuits against President Trump’s ballot eligibility in multiple states, citing the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.
In a four-page ruling on Monday, Judge Gloria Navarro determined that Mr. Castro did not have standing to file the lawsuit in Nevada as a political competitor, noting that this was in line with the rulings of “multiple federal courts” that found the challenger “is creating his own injury in order to manufacture standing.”
Judge Navarro cited an October article from The Associated Press in which Mr. Castro admitted he had no serious intention to pursue a presidential campaign. Mr. Castro submitted the article to the court for consideration of his standing; however, it ended up working against his claim.
“To have standing to sue in federal court, a plaintiff must have suffered a concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent injury in fact that was caused by the defendant’s challenged conduct and is redressable by a favorable decision,” Judge Navarro wrote in his ruling.
According to court documents, Mr. Castro claimed the injury of “receiving fewer votes than he would if Trump was prohibited from appearing on the ballot.”
Judge Navarro noted that multiple federal courts have already dismissed Mr. Castro’s 14th Amendment claims for lack of standing without addressing the merits of whether President Trump is eligible to run for office.
Furthermore, at least five federal courts have specifically rejected Mr. Castro’s political competitor standing argument.
“In rejecting his political competitor’s standing argument, courts have found that Castro improperly manufactured his standing merely to file this lawsuit,” Judge Navarro wrote.
Mr. Castro’s challenge only pertained to the state’s primary, where President Trump is not a participant, opting instead for the state GOP’s rival caucus.
Despite the dismissal, Judge Navarro did not rule on the merits of the challenge.
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