In a new interview on MSNBC, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, condemned threats that she, members of her staff, and even her family have faced after her recent decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot for the upcoming GOP presidential primary in her state.
That decision comes with the important caveat that before it actually takes effect and is, in fact, implemented, there’s an appeals process at hand that’s being handled in the state’s court system. One could imagine the dispute could also head to the U.S. Supreme Court, like a similar case from Colorado.
“Threats of violence are unacceptable,” Bellows said. “Swatting the home of an elected official who is doing their job is unacceptable. And what my staff, my team have experienced — what they experienced all day yesterday was a constant onslaught of threatening communications. And that has to stop. […] We’ve seen an escalation of the rhetoric, and that needs to stop.” “Swatting” refers to making calls to law enforcement that utilize falsified details and are meant to provoke an often significant law enforcement response targeting a specific location.
Bellows is unfortunately not the first figure who’s ended up opposite Trump on a political issue to face serious threats. For instance, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who didn’t even originate the challenge in her state that’s produced a decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court to boot Trump, has also faced threats. (The Colorado decision is also temporarily on hold, and Trump’s corner is predictably seeking intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.) Another example is Fani Willis, the local prosecutor in Georgia who brought a sweeping criminal case accusing Trump and an original total of 18 others of involvement in conspiracies targeting the state’s presidential election results from 2020.
The challenges to Trump appearing on the ballot link him to the violence of January 6, 2021, and invoke Constitutional rules against certain individuals who engaged in insurrection holding office. Bellows’ new interview is below:
