Republicans stay silent on Trump’s call to terminate the Constitution
© AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta
The White House has severely criticized former President Donald Trump for advocating that the Constitution be repealed in his continued efforts to alter the results of the 2020 election. Trump called for the repeal of the Constitution in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, citing his unfounded claims of widespread electoral fraud in the 2016 presidential election.
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” he wrote. Trump’s Tweet follows Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s Friday promotion of a series of tweets detailing internal documents regarding how the firm handled a New York Post piece about Hunter Biden in 2020.
The White House stated in a statement to NBC News and other news sources that attacks on the Constitution should be “universally condemned.” “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, describing the Constitution as a “sacrosanct document.”
Republican officials, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, as well as the Republican National Committee, have not publicly responded to Trump’s statement as of Sunday morning. NBC News reached out to McConnell, McCarthy, and the RNC for comment on Saturday but received no response.
However, a few notable Republicans were forced to comment on Sunday shows. “Well, obviously, I don’t support that,” Rep.-elect Mike Lawler of New York said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The Constitution is set for a reason, to protect the rights of every American. And so I certainly don’t endorse that language or that sentiment. I think the question for everyone is how we move forward,” Lawler said, adding that he thinks Americans are “tired of discussing the grievances of prior elections” and that Trump would be “well-advised to focus on the future if he is going to run for president again.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s director of staff, Marc Short, observed that Trump’s words had formed a “consistent trend,” noting that the former president had requested that Pence set aside the Constitution to overturn the election results after he lost re-election to Joe Biden.
“The president’s remarks, the company he’s keeping, I think is way beyond the fold,” Short said during an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
