Donald Trump blocked by US state of Maine from being on Republican primary ballot

Donald Trump will not be able to run for president in a second US state after another bombshell ruling linked him to the attack on the US Capitol, but he has been given a lifeline in the nation’s most populated state.

The US state of Maine has blocked former president Donald Trump from its Republican presidential primary ballot, becoming the second state to disqualify him over his role in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Maine’s top election official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said in her ruling that the events of January 6, 2021 “occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President”.

“The US Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government and (Maine law) requires me to act in response,” read the ruling, which came in response to challenges filed by a handful of Maine voters.

However, the Californian Secretary of State has announced Mr Trump would remain on its ballot.

Maine’s ruling joins Colorado, where the state supreme court earlier this month found Trump ineligible for the presidency, moves that will certainly be challenged in the US Supreme Court.

The rulings in both states invoked the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars from office anyone formerly sworn to protect the country who later engages in insurrection.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” wrote Ms Bellows, a Democrat.

Former US president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, after the shock court ruling. Picture: AFP

“I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

Trump’s campaign quickly slammed Bellows’ ruling as “attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter” and called her a “virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat”.

“These partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, accusing President Joe Biden and Democrats of “relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.” Cheung said Trump would appeal the ruling.

Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump takes to the stage after the court decision. Picture: Getty Images

Fellow Republicans jumped to Trump’s defense, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who is also seeking the party’s nomination.

“It opens up Pandora’s Box. Can you have a Republican Secretary of State disqualify Biden from the ballot?” he said.

Trump remains the front-running Republican candidate to challenge Biden in next year’s vote.

The two are neck-and-neck in polls, and Biden has stepped up his attacks on his predecessor in recent weeks, saying Trump “certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it, none, zero.”

Trump continues to claim, without proof, that he is the rightful winner of the 2020 vote.

He is scheduled to go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn the results of the election, and also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state after his defeat.

TRUMP REACTS TO COLORADO DECISION

On the campaign trail in Waterloo, Iowa, Mr Trump did not directly address the decision — which his campaign called “undemocratic” and said it would swiftly appeal — as he spoke to cheering supporters just minutes after the ruling was announced.

He did, however, send a message to his backers.

“Never forget, our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom,” he said.

“In the end, they’re not after me, they’re after you — I just happen to be standing in their way.”

A spokesman for Mr Trump’s campaign denounced the ruling as “a flawed decision” that was indicative of the Democrat Party’s “state of paranoia”.

“(Democrat leaders) have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.

Former US president Donald Trump speaks to supporters near the White House on January 6, 2021. Picture: AFP

“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.

“We have full confidence that the US Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favour and finally put an end to these un-American lawsuits.”

The ruling will be placed on hold until January 4, pending Mr Trump’s appeal to the US Supreme Court, which could set up a high-stakes showdown as voters in early states begin casting their ballots in the Republican primaries.

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the court wrote.

Eric Trump branded the ruling “un-American”. Picture: AFP

Trump supporter Kari Lake accused the Colorado Supreme Court of “historic election interference”. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

“Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

Mr Trump’s supporters were quick to slam the ruling, with son Eric describing it as “un-American”.

“Let’s not worry about democracy or the will of the American people … If you can’t win, cheat … This is un-American and the typical playbook of the modern Democratic Party,” he tweeted.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called the court’s decision an “actual attack on democracy.”

Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has threatened to withdraw from the Colorado Primary unless Donald Trump is reinstated. Picture: AFP

In a post on X, Mr Ramaswamy pledged to withdraw from the Colorado primary unless Mr Trump is allowed to be on the ballot, saying the move would have “disastrous consequences for our country.”

Former TV news anchor Kari Lake, the current US Senate candidate for the Republican Party in Arizona for the 2024 election, called the decision “historic election interference” that overturned “over a century of judicial precedent”.

Conspiracy theorist and far-right radio host Alex Jones posted a video on X accusing the Democratic Party of “stealing the 2024 election”.

The judgment from the Colorado Supreme Court comes after a group of voters challenged an earlier ruling that as a candidate for the presidency, Mr Trump’s clear involvement in January 6 did not preclude his running again.

The landmark decision marks the first time a court has found Donald Trump to be ineligible to return to the White House. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

It hinged on the interpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US constitution that bars someone from holding “any office … under the United States” if they engaged in insurrection after taking an oath as “an officer of the United States” to support the Constitution.

But the amendment cannot apply to Mr Trump, the lower court said, because the presidency is left out of the list of federal elected positions affected.

Originally published as Donald Trump blocked by US state of Maine from being on Republican primary ballot