Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, told MSNBC that she was “duty-bound” to bar former President Donald Trump from Maine’s primary ballot.
Bellows found Trump’s primary petition to be “invalid,” claiming he violated the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause due to his conduct leading up to the January 6 riots.
Democrat Bellows also rejected Trump’s bid to get her to recuse herself from ruling on his eligibility amid multiple legal challenges to his candidacy.
“This decision is based on Maine law and the facts that were presented to me in the Section 336 challenge. It was really important to me to look at the evidence presented in the public hearing and the law and the facts presented in the context of Maine law, Sections 336, 337, and 443. It’s a very detailed decision,” Bellows said.
“We lay out why under Maine law the Secretary of State has the authority, indeed the obligation, I’m duty bound to make this determination.”
“We also, I rather laid out that the record demonstrates that in fact, the events of January 6, 2021, which were unprecedented and tragic, were an insurrection in the meaning of section three of the 14th amendment.”
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Shenna Bellows can barely contain her excitement and glee as she squeals about removing Trump from the ballot in Maine. She claims she couldn’t wait for the SC and Jan 6th was an insurrection.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 29, 2023
The MSNBC host then accuses Republicans of “attacking” her. pic.twitter.com/y3ldRdWehI
“And finally, in reviewing the facts presented, the evidence, the law, the history,” Bellows told CNN. “We determined under section three of the 14th amendment that Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection and therefore was disqualified.”
Maine joined Colorado in barring Trump from their primary ballot.
The state’s Democrat-controlled Supreme Court decided Colorado’s decision in a 4-3 ruling.
Bellows argued that Trump was disqualified from the state ballot under the 14th Amendment, barring former office who engaged in “insurrection” from running for office.
However, Trump has not been charged with inciting an “insurrection” on January 6, 2021.
Since the ruling, photos of Bellows beaming ear-to-ear with President Biden emerged on social media.
Conservative account highlighted past tweets in which Bellows claimed that the right to vote is the “premise of our Democracy.”
“The fundamental right of any American citizen to vote freely, fairly and to have their vote counted is the premise of our democracy,” Bellows wrote in an X post a little under a year ago.
“The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not values to be compromised away.”
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