Brooks: Maine Ruling ‘Even Worse Threat to Democracy’ than CO’s, Maine SoS ‘Out to Silence’ People

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that Maine’s decision to remove 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was “an even worse threat to democracy” than the Colorado ruling and that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) was “out to silence” people.

Brooks said, “I thought Colorado was pretty terrible. And I think this is an even worse threat to democracy, some random Democratic politician throwing the Republican frontrunner off the ballot for a crime…he’s not even convicted of, he hasn’t even been charged with. The process should always be, voters decide, voters decide. It should be that doubly when we have an entire democratic system [that] is under a crisis of authority and people don’t trust it. They think the game is rigged. If suddenly you have random people throwing people off the ballot, they’re going to think, oh, the game really is rigged. And then, if you have one Democrat throwing a candidate off the ballot in Maine, do you really think some Republicans aren’t going to start throwing people off the ballot somewhere else?”

He added, “I just thought it was a terrible decision, and one that confirms every story that Donald Trump tells, which is those liberal elites are out to get you. And, suddenly — I don’t know if she’s a liberal elite — but somebody’s out to silence your voice.”

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