Maine on Thursday, the 28th of December, barred Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot in next year’s US presidential primaries, becoming the second state after Colorado to bar the former president from running for the Republican presidential nomination over his role in the 6th of January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, reports Reuters.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows concluded that Trump incited riots by spreading false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and then called on his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying the vote.
“The US Constitution does not tolerate an attack on the foundations of our government,” Bellows wrote in the 34-page ruling.
The decision can be objected by appeal to the state’s Supreme Court. Bellows has temporarily suspended its application until the court has given its final ruling on the case.
The Trump campaign called the decision “atrocious” and said it would immediately file a legal objection. Trump’s legal team maintains that he did not incite the riots and argues that his statements to supporters during the 2021 riot are protected by his right to freedom of expression.
The decision came after a group of former Maine state lawmakers said Trump should be disqualified on the basis of the US constitution, which prohibits public officials from engaging in rioting.
The ruling, which disqualifies Trump from Maine’s March primaries, could affect his eligibility to run in November’s general election. The decision could
increase pressure on the US Supreme Court to address the nationwide question of Trump’s eligibility for the presidency
under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
BNN already reported that Colorado court barred Donald Trump from state’s 2024 primary ballot, declaring for the first time in US history that a candidate is ineligible to run for the presidency because he has participated in a riot. Trump has called the decision undemocratic, and the Colorado Republican Party filed its appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Efforts to disqualify Trump in other states have been unsuccessful. The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit that also sought to disqualify Trump from the state’s primary ballot.
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