Shenna Bellows Interviews Spark Fury After Trump Kicked Off Maine Ballot

Conservative commentators have reacted with fury online to comments made by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows defending her decision to remove Donald Trump from the state's primary ballot.

Following her appearances on MSNBC and CNN one prominent account on X, formerly Twitter, said the Democrat could "barely contain her excitement and glee" after taking the former president off the 2024 Maine ballot.

In a decision announced on Thursday, Bellows argued Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which saw hundreds of his supporters storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, amounted to an "insurrection" thus making the former president ineligible to serve in the White House again. The 14^th Amendment prohibits anyone who, having "taken an oath" to protect the Constitution, engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" from occupying certain offices, though the exact meaning of this is subject to dispute.

Speaking on MSNBC after announcing her decision, Bellows said: "It's a very detailed decision. We lay out why under Maine law the secretary of state has the authority, indeed the obligation—I'm duty bound to make this determination.

"We also—I rather—laid out that the record demonstrates that in fact the events of January 6, 2021, which were unprecedented and tragic, were an insurrection in the meaning of section 3 of the 14^th Amendment and finally in reviewing the facts presented— the evidence, the law, the history—we determined under section 3 of the 14^th Amendment Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection and therefore is disqualified."

The interviews sparked angry responses from some conservatives on X, formerly Twitter, with several suggesting she was influenced by partisan political considerations.

The Libs of TikTok X account, which has 2.7 million followers, shared a clip from one of Bellows' interviews, adding: "Shenna Bellows can barely contain her excitement and glee as she squeals about removing Trump from the ballot in Maine. She claims she couldn't wait for the SC [Supreme Court] and Jan 6th was an insurrection. The MSNBC host then accuses Republicans of 'attacking' her."

The Clandestine X account, which has over 386,000 followers, posted a separate clip and questioned whether Bellows was acting as part of a conspiracy, without providing any supporting evidence. They wrote: "You'll notice Maine's deranged Secretary of State first says 'WE' laid out the evidence of an insurrection, then quickly corrects herself to 'I'.

"Hey Shenna Bellows who is 'we'? They want you to believe this is an individual act, but she is taking orders from the top."

Podcast host Joey Mannarino shared another video of Bellows commenting: "Shenna Bellows, Maine's Secretary of State, defends her TREASONOUS decision to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot. She is a truly SICK individual. Listen to her voice."

In an apparent reference to the Covid-19 vaccine, he added: "No doubt she's never missed a booster shot!"

Conservative commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson noted Bellows had run unsuccessfully for a Maine Senate seat in 2014, when she lost to Republican Susan Collins. He added: "This is the person who just ruled to kick Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot. She is disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters in her own state."

Other commentators on X defended Bellows decision including Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California, who posted: "Pleased that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is following the plain language of the Constitution."

Newsweek has reached out to Maine Secretary of State Shanna Bellows' office for comment by email

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung condemned Bellows' actions in a statement released after her decision and vowed to file a legal objection.

"The Maine Secretary of State is a former ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] attorney, a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden," Cheung said. "We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter."

From 2005 to 2013 Bellows was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine from 2005 to 2013 after which she served two terms in the Maine Senate as a Democrat, before becoming secretary of state in January 2021.