Lauren Lejeune

I was scrolling through social media this evening when I came across a headline that snagged my attention: “Judge Tosses Wyoming Attorney’s Attempt To Keep Trump, Lummis Off Ballot” (as seen on Cowboy State Daily). My initial thought was that it had to be satire — surely THE Cowboy State of Wyoming wouldn’t be trying to boot the top Republican candidate off the 2024 ballot, but there it was. 

Retired Laramie attorney Tim Newcomb’s lawsuit was dismissed, unsurprisingly, by Judge Misha Westby. Newcomb sought to have Donald Trump as well as U.S Sen. Cynthia Lummis off the Wyoming election ballots, for her alleged remarks regarding the 2020 election and how it tied into the The Great Jan. 6 fiasco of 2021. 

I suppose growing up in the conservative capital of the intermountain west has made me slightly immune (or blind) to the ongoing events happening across the country. Not just election circuses, but the overall societal decay; my days are immensely happier when I do not indulge in the mainstream media. Seeing that this is happening in our home state, a state that I would say is a champion of freedom, I find it to be slightly unsettling. 

So if we are going to go about pulling people off federal election ballots, we need to have some grounds for it. Stating that you believe someone incited an insurrection is not the same as it actually happening. Yes, there was a protest. Yes it got out of hand. Did the president call for a violent uprising worthy of its own documentaries three years later? No. I would say that under our First Amendment rights, we are allowed to disagree or be unhappy with choices or events in our country as well as talk about it. And we should! 

The 2020 presidential election was the first election I was old enough to vote in. I would count myself in with the group that was surprised the Republican candidate did not win. No, not with the booming economy, record number of jobs added nationwide and America once more becoming a powerhouse on the global playing field, one that was taken seriously. Apparently those aren’t great, when the president isn’t as nice or courteous with his dialect. 

Now, we have record levels of inflation, a wide open southern border, wars breaking out worldwide — but hey, our current president says kind things … when he can. 

The strong opposition to Donald Trump being allowed on the presidential ballot, I believe, is due to the fact he has a very high chance of winning. He hasn’t even shown up to a single primary debate and still remains the leader. I think that says a lot about what direction the majority of people are leaning. 

It seems to me that only one side of the aisle is allowed to question the integrity of a federal election. Does anyone remember the 2016 Russian collusion fiasco? This went on for years, with accusations being thrown against Trump and his supposed collusion with Russia to tip the scales in his favor. If one side is allowed to waste taxpayer dollars on frivolous investigations, then the other side has every right to ask any questions they want. 

All feelings aside, I believe that removing Donald Trump from the ballot undermines the American people and their choice on who they wish to see in office, as well as their capabilities in fairly choosing a new leader. Leave him on and let it play out how it’s supposed to.