Update
For role in storming the Capitol
Maine also removed Trump from the ballot
December 29, 2023, 1:20 a.m
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After Colorado, a second US state does not want to allow former US President Trump to take part in the primaries for the presidential election campaign. Maine’s elections director considers the Republican unfit for public office. His team immediately announced an appeal.
After Colorado, Maine is the second US state to exclude former President Donald Trump from his party’s presidential primaries. The Democratic State Secretary Shenna Bellows, who is responsible for elections in Maine, justified the move with the Republican’s role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump’s campaign team announced that they wanted to take action against the decision.
According to the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, Trump is not qualified to be president. The constitutional amendment, which dates back to the Civil War era, stipulates that no person may hold public office if he or she has taken part in an “insurrection or insurrection” against the Constitution after taking an oath to defend it.
Bellows explained that she did not come to this conclusion lightly. However, the events of January 6, 2021 took place “at the behest and with the knowledge and support” of the outgoing president. Bellows said the decision would be stayed in the event of a legal challenge before the Maine Supreme Court. A spokesman for Trump’s campaign team immediately announced that they would appeal the decision. Trump’s campaign team described Bellows’ decision, among other things, as an “attempted theft of an election.”
Trump received support from his fellow Republicans, including from within the party. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is also running, commented: “This opens Pandora’s Box.”
On December 19, the Supreme Court in Colorado ruled in a sensational decision that Trump should not take part in his party’s presidential primaries in the state because of his role in the storming of the Capitol. This decision also referred to the constitutional amendment, but it is not final. The Colorado court put its decision on hold until January 4 to allow time for an appeal. The Republicans have now also filed this. Now it is up to the US Supreme Court to clarify whether the states are allowed to decide the question of suitability for the office of president individually – or whether a uniform decision is required.
Proceedings have also been initiated in other states to have Trump excluded from the primaries. This was rejected in Michigan and Minnesota, and the process is still ongoing in Oregon.
Trump is the overwhelming favorite among Republicans
Trump is the overwhelming favorite in the race for the Republican presidential nomination and is leading polls by a large margin. The Republican primary begins on January 15th in the state of Iowa. The primary election winner will face incumbent Joe Biden of the Democratic Party in the presidential election on November 5, 2024.
Biden beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election. However, Trump refused to acknowledge his defeat and made allegations of massive election fraud, which were often refuted. The right-wing populist’s crusade against his election defeat resulted in the attack by radical Trump supporters on the Congress, where Biden’s election victory was to be finally confirmed on January 6, 2021. Shortly before the attack, Trump had called on his supporters to march to the Capitol and fight “no matter what.”