On Thursday, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows unilaterally declared Trump guilty of insurrection, and thereby ineligible to appear on the ballot in her state.
Who is this woman who took it upon herself to be the judge, jury, and executioner? How is it possible that we’ve become a country where one person in a state can simply say “I don’t want this person on the ballot,” and for it to be so?
Well, it should come as no surprise that she’s a hardcore Democrat. You most certainly didn’t need me to tell you that. Since her ruling, photos of her with both Joe Biden and Barack Obama have been circulating on social media, which has done little to speak to her objectivity.
This is @shennabellows
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) December 29, 2023
This is the woman who unilaterally booted Trump off the ballot in Maine. pic.twitter.com/J4SempHCrT
There’s another rather inconvenient tweet from January 2022 that has gone viral. In it, she declared that voting freely and fairly is a fundamental right of Americans.
The fundamental right of any American citizen to vote freely, fairly and to have their vote counted is the premise of our democracy. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not values to be compromised away. #FreedomToVoteAct
— Shenna Bellows (@shennabellows) January 5, 2022
Of course, the Freedom to Vote Act, which she was touting in the tweet, was one of three radical pieces of legislation proposed by Democrats in 2021 to federalize state election laws and destroy election integrity nationwide. Among other things, they would have created universal mail-in voting, the acceptance of ballots up to ten days after an election, automatic voter registration, and allowed felons to vote. Still, it’s ironic that she booted Trump from the ballot despite claiming to be pro-democracy.
Bellows's decision was hardly unexpected—not because of the legitimacy of the allegations against Trump, but rather her history of anti-Trump statements, which you can find sprinkled throughout her X/Twitter timeline.
So, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Bellows claimed in her decision that Trump “was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it” when the facts clearly dispute this allegation. Trump was still speaking when the violence at the Capitol began, and there’s also ample evidence that the riot was preplanned by various groups. Perhaps more importantly, Trump specifically called on his supporters to engage in peaceful protest. Trump said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
But what’s really telling is that Bellows suspended the effects of her decision pending appeal. She likely knows the U.S. Supreme Court will settle the issue of Trump’s eligibility, but rather than wait for that happen, she made this ruling that is likely to be overturned. Who benefits from her doing this? She does. As you could have predicted, she made the rounds on left-wing networks Thursday evening.
MSNBC:
JUST IN - Maine Sec. of State Shenna Bellows Defends Kicking Trump Off the Ballot
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 29, 2023
“We determined under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection and therefore was disqualified.” pic.twitter.com/EutBvZOqg1
Democrat Shenna Bellows explains that she personally decided that Trump was guilty of engaging in an insurrection.
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) December 29, 2023
So she unilaterally removed the leading Republican presidential candidate from Maine's ballot.
She gleefully tells MSDNC "I could not, unfortunately—or… pic.twitter.com/jPpmaxx9yr
CNN:
Shenna Bellows after removing Trump from the ballot: “No secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on section 3 of the 14th amendment. But no presidential candidate has ever engaged in insurrection.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 29, 2023
pic.twitter.com/pSkqlZ4rPR
So, if you’re Shenna Bellows, what exactly was the point of what she did? The issue of Trump’s eligibility was likely already going to the Supreme Court after Colorado’s State Supreme Court ruled him ineligible while other states had ruled him eligible. Experts on both sides of the aisle have also predicted that the Colorado decision will be overturned unanimously, so there’s little reason to believe that Bellows’ unilateral act will actually pass constitutional muster. So, the only thing her ruling accomplishes is that it increases her profile, both locally and nationally, setting the stage for her to seek higher office after establishing herself as a hero to leftists in her state.
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