Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in an interview that she has faced threats since issuing her decision to remove Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot on Thursday.
“We have received threatening communications, those are unacceptable,” Bellows told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday. “I certainly worry about the safety of people I love, people around me and people who are charged with protecting me and working alongside me. That being said, we’re a nation of laws and that’s what’s really important. I’ve been laser-focused on that obligation to uphold the Constitution.”
Bellows’ decision late Thursday made Maine the second state in the U.S. to remove Trump from its primary ballot after Colorado similarly did so earlier in December. Bellows, a Democrat, cited a clause in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that would bar those who participated in an insurrection from holding office.
“The events of January 6, 2021 were unprecedented and tragic. They were an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law,” Bellows wrote in her decision. “The evidence here demonstrates that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President. The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and Section 336 requires me to act in response.”
Maine’s decision faces an appeal, and has garnered criticism from both of Maine’s senators. Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Angus King voiced their disapproval over the decision. “Maine voters should decide who wins the election – not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature,” Collins said.
Trump’s campaign vehemently condemned the ruling on Thursday, calling Bellows “a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.”
“Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
A federal grand jury voted to indict Trump in August over his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, culminating in the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
