Chris Christie said it was wrong to bar ex-President Donald Trump from Maine’s primary ballot

Former New Jersey governor and 2024 presidential candidate Chris Christie has accused Democrats of helping to turn Donald Trump into a “martyr,” citing a decision by Maine officials to bar the ex-leader from the state primary ballot.

Speaking to CNN on Friday, Christie launched broadsides against his fellow GOP contenders, singling out both Nikki Haley and Trump, but went on to criticize Maine’s decision to blacklist the former leader from ballots - the second state to do so after Colorado.

Trump’s removal from the state ballot “makes him a martyr,” Christie said. “You know, he’s very good at playing ‘Poor me, poor me.’ He’s always complaining. The poor billionaire from New York who’s spending everybody else’s money to pay his legal fees.”

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In a 34-page decision published earlier this week, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, explained that Trump would be disqualified from the state primary race over his comments and actions surrounding the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, [Trump] 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,” Bellows wrote.

The move marked the first time the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution was invoked to bar a presidential candidate from a state primary. The provision states that US officials found to have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” are prohibited from seeking public office.

While Democrats impeached Trump over the January 6 riot and have accused him of incitement, the former president dismissed the allegations as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

In his interview with CNN, Christie went on to argue that such decisions should be “decided by the voters,” rather than courts or appointed officials, adding “it’s not good for our democracy. In the end, Donald Trump should be defeated by the voters at the polls.”

READ MORE: Trump barred from presidential race in second US state

As he seeks to return to the White House for a second term, Trump faces no less than four criminal cases across the US, including alleged election interference, hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, as well as charges linked to the improper retention of classified documents. He is currently leading in the polls for the Republican Party’s nomination to run against President Joe Biden in 2024.