Donald Trump Removed From Maine Primary Ballot

Maine's Secretary of State has announced that Donald Trump has been removed from next year's Presidential primary ballot. Shenna Bellows cited a Civil War-era clause of the 14th Amendment that bars "insurrectionists" from running for President. If the ruling stands, Maine will become the second state to remove Trump from the ballot. Earlier in December, the Colorado Supreme Court excluded Trump from the state's ballot using the same precedent. However, Bellows became the first elected official to disbar Trump from the ballot.

However, whether these rulings will stand will likely depend on the Supreme Court. SCOTUS has never had to rule on Amendment 14, Section 3 before. But with states seemingly exercising their constitutional right, the court will likely intervene to have the final say. It will set up a fascinating battle between the court's conservative leaning and many of the justices' public stance as "constitutional absolutists". No date has been set for SCOTUS to rule on the rights of states to disbar Trump on state ballots.

Donald Trump Disputes Home Alone 2 Allegations

Meanwhile, Trump has been fighting claims that he "bullied" his way into a cameo in Home Alone 2. “I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent. I agreed, and the rest is history!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. The brief moment, in which Kevin McCallister runs into Trump and asks for directions, was filmed in the lobby of the then-Trump-owned Plaza Hotel. Trump then went on to claim that his brief cameo was the driving force of the film's massive success.

The claims that Trump forced his way into a cameo stem from a 2020 interview with the film's director, Chris Columbus. While speaking with Business Insider, Columbus claimed that Trump offered the lobby of the Plaza for free as long as he got a part in the film. Columbus said he had gone to Trump after finding it impractical to recreate the iconic lobby on a soundstage.

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