The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to be removed from the presidential ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin. RFK Jr. has attempted to remove his name from the ballot in critical battleground states since he dropped out of the race and endorsed President Trump. WATCH: BREAKING NOW: Supreme Court REFUSES bid to take RFK Jr. off the ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin.. pic.twitter.com/FcZtAurise — Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) October 29, 2024 USA TODAY reports: Kennedy, who endorsed Trump after ending his own campaign in August, missed the deadline for withdrawing from the ballot in those states. But he argued the deadlines are unconstitutional because they are different than the rules for candidates running on the Democratic or Republican ticket. Lower courts rejected that argument and also said there wasn’t enough time to change the ballots. Voting is already underway. “The absurdity of this proposal is evident on its face,” Wisconsin Attorney General Joshua Kaul argued about Kennedy’s suggestion that his name be covered over with stickers. “Today, it is not possible to affix tiny stickers to the ballots remaining with clerks, and hundreds of thousands of ballots have been sent to voters, with many already returned.” Likewise, in Michigan, more than 1.5 million absentee ballots have been mailed in. Even if time remained to reprint and distribute new ballots, vote counting machines have already been programmed to handle the existing ballots and can’t now be reprogrammed, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told the Supreme Court. BREAKING: SCOTUS rejects RFK Jr.'s request to be removed from the Wisconsin and Michigan ballots. There are no noted dissents in the Wisconsin case. Justice Gorsuch dissents in the Michigan case. pic.twitter.com/lUlRjQr2as — Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 29, 2024 From The Hill: In two brief orders, the Supreme Court rejected Kennedy’s separate emergency requests, which asserted forcibly keeping his name on the ballot compelled his speech in violation of the First Amendment. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, publicly dissented in the Michigan decision and sided with Kennedy. He did not do so for the Wisconsin case. “Moreover, such compelled speech harms every citizen in Michigan. The Secretary, by listing Mr. Kennedy on the ballot, is misrepresenting to voters that Mr. Kennedy is qualified and willing to serve the public if elected,” Kennedy’s attorneys wrote in his Michigan application. “Such a representation is not only incorrect, but it is also prejudicial to voters who reasonably expect that the ballot contain accurate information,” the application continued. The Supreme Court’s ruling comes after the justices similarly denied efforts to restore Kennedy’s name to New York’s ballot and Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s name to Nevada’s ballot.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled on RFK Jr’s desire to remove his name from swing states where his inclusion on the ballot would be a “spoiler” in an election in which he is no longer a contender — having thrown his endorsement behind President Trump.  Just a short time ago, the ruling came down as “denied”. BREAKING: The Supreme Court has just declined to remove RFK Jr’s name from ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin.pic.twitter.com/ljChf6aiOK — Jesse Morgan (@Jesse_Morgan_) October 29, 2024 Here’s the ruling, denying both appeals for having his name removed from the Wisconsin and Michigan ballots.  According to a Fox News report, RFK Jr. specifically did not want his name to create a “spoiler” situation in battle ground states. The U.S. Supreme Court has denied separate appeals by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name from the ballots in Wisconsin and Michigan – a move supported by former President Trump. The longshot independent presidential candidate has been trying to get his name off ballots in key battleground states since he suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump. When he suspended his campaign, Kennedy said he planned to keep his name on the ballot in safe Democratic and Republican states, but didn’t want to be a spoiler in battleground states. The Supreme Court has ruled that RFK Jr. will appear on battleground ballots despite suspending his campaign. https://t.co/Kxxj0cQvuR — CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 29, 2024 According to the above CNN report, the decision came down from the Supreme Court without further explanation, though as you could see in the image of the denied appeal above, Justice Gorsuch did dissent in the Michigan case, citing legal precedent in various cases. Kennedy, who left the presidential race in August and endorsed Trump, urged the Supreme Court in an emergency appeal to force the states to yank his name from the ballots. But state election officials countered that early and absentee voting in the states was already well underway. In other words, they said, it was too late. The Supreme Court handed down its decision without further explanation, which is common on its emergency docket. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a member of the court’s conservative wing, dissented in the Michigan case. At the center of Kennedy’s case in Michigan and Wisconsin was an argument that the states were violating his First Amendment rights by compelling his speech by forcing him to suggest to voters that he is still a candidate. Michigan told the Supreme Court this week that over 1.5 million voters had already returned absentee ballots with Kennedy’s name listed as an option on them and that another 263,000 residents had voted early. “This election is not merely ‘imminent,’ it is already underway, and voters are already voting,” Michigan officials had told the Supreme Court. My guess is with the continuing groundswell of support that President Trump is receiving, even from former democrats who have gone on the warpath for President Trump after tiring of the corruption and lies of the democratic party, this ruling will likely not make a difference once the votes are tallied. Nevertheless, with a week to go, there are still plenty of votes to count and those who will wait until Election Day to cast their ballots in both swing states.

Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey are currently on the road playing the music of 80s-era King Crimson

Teri Garr, known for her starring roles in Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California. She was 79 years-old.