Tom Saviello, a Republican former Maine state senator who said he voted for former President Donald Trump, defended the decision to block Trump from the primary ballot.
On Thursday, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, ruled that Trump was barred from the state primaries because the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner engaged in an insurrection regarding his activities surrounding the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, she said. Bellows cited the 14th Amendment, which states that a U.S. official who swears an oath to the Constitution and then engages in an insurrection cannot hold federal office in the future.
Saviello, who served in the state Senate from 2010-2018 and was one of several former lawmakers who challenged Trump’s position on the ballot, told CNN’s Eric Hill on Friday that Trump simply did not meet the qualifications to be on the ballot.
“First, you have to look at what Maine state law says. The secretary of state has to determine whether the individual meets the qualifications or not before they can be on the ballot,” Saviello said. “And in this particular case, thank you, Shenna, thank you, Secretary of State, you made the decision that Donald Trump does not meet those qualifications because, according to the 14th Amendment, Section 3, he was involved in inciting an insurrection against this country and egged those people on to do what they wanted to do to the Capitol.
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“And, therefore, she’s made the decision that he is not qualified to be on our ballot. That’s the difference. And she made that in a very thoughtful manner. She ran a wonderful hearing, whether we won or lost. She really listened to what everybody had to say and made that ultimate decision yesterday.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign and Bellows’ office via email for comment.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung has said that a legal objection will be “quickly” filed against Bellows’ ruling, adding that the decision to kick Trump off the ballot was a “hostile assault on American democracy.”
“Democrats in blue states are recklessly and unconstitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot,” Cheung said. “Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy. Biden and the Democrats simply do not trust the American voter in a free and fair election and are now relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.”
Bellows acknowledged the unprecedented nature of her decision.
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” she wrote in the ruling. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., as Congress was attempting to certify Biden’s 2020 win. The riot erupted following unsubstantiated claims made by Trump that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud.
The Justice Department indicted Trump in August on four federal felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights, all regarding his actions surrounding the Capitol riot.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has claimed that the case is politically motivated.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.