Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced on Thursday that former President Donald Trump would be removed from the state’s 2024 primary ballot.
Bellows insisted Trump’s candidacy is invalid, accusing the former president of violating the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause due to his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
In her ruling, Bellows, a Democrat, said she decided to remove the top Republican presidential candidate because “Democracy is sacred.”
“I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Bellows said before once again accusing Trump of engaging in “insurrection.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, before the Capitol breach, Trump said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Trump also urged protesters to go home after the breach erupted, saying in a video posted to Twitter at the time: “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now, we have to have peace.”
“We love you. You’re very special,” he said. “Go home in peace.”
Bellows’ ruling comes shortly after Colorado briefly removed Trump from its 2024 ballot before pausing its decision until the Supreme Court weighs in.
“BIDEN SHOULD DROP ALL OF THESE FAKE POLITICAL INDICTMENTS AGAINST ME, BOTH CRIMINAL & CIVIL. EVERY CASE I AM FIGHTING IS THE WORK OF THE DOJ & WHITE HOUSE. NO SUCH THING HAS EVER HAPPENED IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE. BANANA REPUBLIC??? ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at the time.
“A SAD DAY IN AMERICA!!!” the former president added in a separate post.
