Trump’s online posts on Saturday — including a message in which he wrote that “UNPRECEDENTED SCAM DEMANDS UNPRECEDENTED CURE!” — represented a major escalation in his attacks on American institutions and democratic norms, which scholars said should be taken as a sign of how far he is willing to go to regain power. “A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False and Fraudulent Elections!” But only a handful of Republican lawmakers have joined the White House and Democrats in condemning Trump’s claims. Representatives for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not return requests for comment Sunday. Last month, McCarthy announced that Republicans would read every word of the Constitution aloud on the House floor when the GOP takes control of the chamber in January. Some GOP lawmakers asked Sunday on political talk shows about Trump’s latest mission said they disagreed with the former president. But most were still hesitant to say they would oppose Trump if he becomes the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), chairman of the GOP Caucus, declined to answer directly when asked on ABC’s “This Week” about Trump’s comments, saying he was “not used to speaking on the tweet du jour.” when Trump was in office. When pressed by host George Stephanopoulos, Joyce said he would “support whoever the Republican nominee is” — but didn’t think Trump “could get there.” “Well, first of all, he doesn’t – he doesn’t have the ability to suspend the Constitution,” Joyce said. “You know, he says a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean it’s ever going to happen.” Laurence H. Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School, said there has been a legitimate, intellectual debate among constitutional scholars about whether the flaws in the nation’s founding documents are so fundamental that there should be a new constitutional convention. However, what Trump is engaged in “is not conversation, but destruction,” Tribe said in an interview. “What he’s doing is openly screaming in despair that anything standing in the way of him becoming all-powerful should be swept away.” Trump announced his re-election campaign last month after several Trump-backed candidates lost key midterm races, complicating questions within the Republican Party about how to navigate their relationship with the former president. Before, During, and After: An Inquiry into the January 6 Capitol Riot and Its Aftermath While Tribe acknowledged that Trump has said a lot of outrageous things that shouldn’t always get attention, he doesn’t think this latest statement should be dismissed, especially since Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election led to the invasion of a pro-Trump crowd at the US Capitol. January 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. “It is a characteristic statement. It kind of says the quiet part out loud — that he has no respect for the country, for anything but himself,” Tribe said. “That’s like saying, ‘Do you want to see a riot? I’ll show you a riot. I’m just going to tear the whole thing apart.’ “ Trump’s defenders on Sunday moved to tamp down the controversy. A Republican operative close to the former president, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said the post did not literally advocate or call for an end to the Constitution. When asked to clarify how Trump wasn’t at least advocating for ending the Constitution, the agent said, “He’s comparing the unprecedented nature of Big Tech’s meddling in the 2020 election for Joe Biden’s benefit to the unprecedented act of ending the Constitution. ,” suggesting without evidence that tech platforms had tipped the scales for Biden in 2020. Trump’s posts on Saturday came a day after new Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed he would reveal how Twitter engaged in “suppression of free speech” ahead of the 2020 election. But his “Twitter Archives” did not show that the tech giant bent to the will of the Democrats. Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ are divisive, but they haven’t changed minds Some GOP members were louder in their rebuke of Trump’s comments. Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said he “absolutely” condemned Trump’s remarks, but stressed that a long political process remains before Trump is considered the 2024 front-runner. “I strongly disagree with the statement made by Trump. Trump has made, you know, thousands of statements that I disagree with,” Turner said. He added that voters are “definitely going to take a statement like this into account as they evaluate a candidate.” Trump’s comments drew a sharp rebuke from the White House and several Democrats, as well as Republicans who have fallen out of favor in their party over their longstanding criticism of Trump. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called Trump an enemy of the Constitution, and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) questioned how fellow Republicans could continue to support him. “With the former President calling for the constitution to be set aside, not a conservative can legitimately support him, not a supporter can be called a conservative,” Kinzinger tweeted on Sunday, noting McCarthy’s handling of the Twitter. as Reps. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); “This is crazy. Trump hates the constitution.” Rep. Mike Lawler (RN.Y.) echoed several other Republicans in their responses to Trump, saying it was generally time to look ahead, rather than rehash the 2020 election. “The Constitution was put in place for one reason, to protect the rights of every American. And so I certainly don’t support it [Trump’s] language or that feeling,” Lawler said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think the former president would do well to focus on the future if he is going to run for the presidency again.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.), who is set to become the Democratic minority leader in January, decried Trump’s comments as yet another “extraordinary” statement from the former president and ultimately an identity crisis for the GOP. “I thought it was a strange statement, but the Republicans will have to sort out their issues with the former president and decide whether to walk away from him and return to some semblance of sanity or continue to lean toward extremism. , not just Trump, but Trumpism,” Jeffries said on ABC’s “This Week.” Several top Republicans — including former Vice President Mike Pence — issued rare rebuke of Trump recently after he dined with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, both of whom have a history of anti-Semitic comments. On Sunday, Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed Trump “probably understands” that the dinner crossed the line, but he hesitated to blame Trump or his rhetoric for a rise in anti-Semitism. He instead blamed social media for widening such divisions. “There are many, many blessings of the Internet age, but it also comes with a curse. And the curse is polarization,” Netanyahu said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Anti-Semitism, he said, is “the oldest hatred, as I say, one of the oldest hatreds of mankind. It was wrong then, it’s wrong now. But it has an extra life probably in the United States and other countries in the Internet age.” Isaac Arnsdorf, Karoun Demirjian, Toluse Olorunnipa and Missy Ryan contributed to this report. January 6 committee hearings See 3 more stories
