- Trump barred from Maine
- Legal battles underway
- Supreme Court may decide
Trump is ineligible to run for president in Maine in 2020, according to the state’s highest election official, who cited a constitutional insurrection clause in his decision.
Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, stated that Mr. Trump was ineligible due to his conduct preceding the 2021 disturbance in the United States Capitol.
Maine has become the second state after Colorado to exclude Mr. Trump from the ballot.
The decisions increase the burden on the Supreme Court of the United States to weigh in.
Although Colorado consistently receives Democratic ballots, Maine is a more politically charged state where the loss of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump would have a greater impact.
The Trump campaign has already declared its intention to file an appeal against the Maine judgement in the state’s courts; however, the decision will remain pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.
California, the most populous state in the United States, declared Mr. Trump would remain on the Republican primary ballot there hours after Maine’s ruling.
Recent court decisions in other states, including Minnesota and Michigan, have also rejected efforts to prevent Mr. Trump from running for office.
It is probable that the Supreme Court will render the final determination regarding the eligibility of Mr. Trump to run for president or his ineligibility due to a US Constitutional amendment from the Civil War era.
Mrs. Bellows’ Ruling and Trump’s Response
According to the 34-page ruling by Mrs. Bellows, Mr. Trump’s name must be removed from the Republican primary ballot in Maine on account of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits individuals who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from being elected to federal office.
Mrs. Bellows, a Democrat, asserts in her order that Mr. Trump “led his supporters astray and directed them to the Capitol by circulating a false narrative of election fraud over several months, culminating on January 6, 2021.”
She further stated that his infrequent appeals for demonstrators to maintain order and assist law enforcement do not absolve his conduct.
Mrs. Bellows expressed her responsibility to enforce election regulations within her state and anticipated that the “Supreme Court will resolve this matter on a national level.”
“I am aware that prior to this, no secretary of state has denied ballot access to a presidential candidate in violation of section three of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Nevertheless, I am cognizant of the fact that no prior presidential candidate has ever participated in a rebellion.
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She asserted that her decision was “complete and founded on the rule of law,” disavowing any political motivation for it.
Mr. Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court and Georgia court in the near future in connection with his endeavours to nullify his 2020 electoral defeat at the hands of Democrat Joe Biden. In both cases, no one has accused him of inciting an uprising.
His campaign promptly criticized the decision made by Mrs. Bellows, which she had previously requested to be recused from the proceeding.
Reactions to Maine’s Decision and Legal Challenges
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the campaign, referred to Mrs. Bellows as “a hyperpartisan Democrat who supports Biden” and asserted that she was “interfering in elections.”
He further stated that the campaign would “immediately file a state court objection to halt the implementation of this abhorrent decision in Maine.”
Republican presidential opponents of Mr. Trump criticized Maine’s decision as well.
The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, characterized the Maine ruling as an “opening of Pandora’s Box,” implying that Republican secretaries of state might attempt to disqualify President Joe Biden regarding migrants at the southern border.
“Ultimately, I do not believe the United States Supreme Court will uphold this legally.” “However, I do believe that this will remain a constant throughout the election year, with different aspects of these legal cases being in the spotlight,” he stated to Fox News.
“This is what an actual threat to democracy looks like,” stated Vivek Ramaswamy.
He reaffirmed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he would withdraw from the ballot of any state that ultimately removed Trump.
Multiple states have challenged the validity of Mr. Trump’s 2024 presidential candidature on the grounds that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits him from holding office.
Following the American Civil War, the 14th Amendment was ratified to prevent the resurgence of Confederate secessionists in states that had rejoined the Union following the reunification of the southern states.
The prohibition imposed in Colorado marked the inaugural application of the Constitution to disqualify a presidential candidate. However, legal professionals assert that the Colorado ruling will encounter significant opposition when it approaches the conservative-leaning United States Supreme Court.
Petition to Disqualify Trump: Legal Expert’s Critique
A handful of former Maine legislators filed the petition to disqualify Donald Trump from the forthcoming Republican primary contest in Maine, which is a component of the process by which Republican voters select their presidential candidate. They contended that the former president had contravened the oath of office.
Former federal prosecutor Joe Moreno stated that he found “no way this stands.”
Moreno remarked regarding Mrs. Bellows’ decision, “It is abhorrently arrogant of her to arbitrarily determine that an individual has committed an insurrection.”
This will incite an uproar in politics… He expressed regret that such a regrettable outcome had occurred.
Everything culminates in a confrontation with the Supreme Court, which Mr. Moreno believes should occur “immediately” in order to prevent additional states from determining Trump’s eligibility individually.
