Trump sends fans link to Maine secretary of state's biography after ballot decision

Donald Trump posted an ominous link online directing his followers to the biography for the Maine secretary of state after she removed him from the 2024 primary ballot.

Maine's top election official, Shenna Bellows, issued the shock decision Thursday after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month concerning Trump's eligibility for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Trump posted a link to her bio on the state website that lists personal information about her and her family.

“The record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power,” wrote Bellows, a Democrat, in her decision.

“I likewise conclude that Mr. 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.”

Trump did not post any commentary when linking to her bio, but instead listed only her job title directing followers to the link.

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Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who made a similar ruling last week, received 64 death threats in the three weeks after the case was filed, according to reports.

Bellows paused her decision pending an expected appeal in state court by Trump's team, and the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked by Colorado Republicans to hear an appeal of a ruling by that state's top court disqualifying Trump from the primary ballot.

The challenge in Maine, which Trump lost 53-44 to President Joe Biden in 2020, was filed by a bipartisan group of former state lawmakers who say he should be disqualified under a post-Civil War constitutional prohibition against insurrectionists holding elected office.