Trump countersues to make sure he'll be on Michigan ballot

Former President Donald Trump has sued the state of Michigan, asking the court to confirm that the 14th Amendment does not give Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson the ability to keep him off the ballot in that state amid a lawsuit by a leftist group trying to do just that.

Free Speech for People filed a lawsuit in September saying that Trump should be disqualified from running for president because he participated in an "insurrection" on January 6, 2021, when supporters breached the Capitol and briefly interrupted business there.

Benson has already said she will not try to keep Trump off the ballot in Michigan, but she did not respond to a letter from Trump asking her to affirm that he is an official candidate.

Trump has to know whether he will be on the ballot in a given state so that he knows how to spend his resources in those areas, he said. He currently leads President Joe Biden in Michigan by seven points.

Colorado and Michigan are other states where lawsuits to remove Trump from the ballot are still pending.