Senator Angus King (I-ME), a longtime legislator who caucuses with the Democrats, expressed his disapproval on Friday of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’s (D) decision to take Trump off the ballot in the state.
On Thursday evening, Bellows followed the lead of the Colorado Supreme Court and found that Trump was ineligible for the presidency under the 14th Amendment, which states:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
“I have little trouble concluding that the events of January 6, 2021, were an insurrection within the meaning of Section Three of the
One day later, King expressed his disapproval of the decision while noting that he voted to bar Trump from office after the January 6 Capitol riot.
“Under the established Constitutional process, the Senate was called upon to determine the precise question in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in January, 2021. While I voted with a bipartisan majority to convict, the required two-thirds of the Senate did not do so,” began King.
“Although I respect the Secretary of State’s careful process — which she was specifically required to undertake under Maine law — absent a final judicial determination of a violation of the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause,” he continued. “I believe the decision as to whether or not Mr. Trump should again be considered for the presidency should rest with the people as expressed in free and fair elections. This is the ultimate check within our Constitutional system.”
While Maine and Colorado have both issued rulings to take Trump off the ballot, other states such as Michigan and California have shot down arguments that the same should be done in their states.