(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump clarified remarks made over the weekend that were misconstrued by many in the media—including the Associated Press story below—to mean that he was calling on the US Constitution to be canceled over the media’s blatant and egregious malpractice in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
Trump’s ambiguously worded statement said that the fraud and deception “allows for the termination of all rules,” which many Democrats and RINO Republicans interpreted to mean Trump was justifying rather than condemning the termination of all rules.
In his follow-up comment, Trump clarified that he was not endorsing further abuses but was calling on responsible leaders to reinstate the rules after their defacto termination by a cabal of leftist operatives who openly flouted the normal election processes and legal requirements in order to oust him from office.
Original story below:
(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump faced rebuke Sunday from officials in both parties after calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution due to the stolen 2020 election.
Trump, who announced last month that he is running again for president, made the claim over the weekend on his Truth Social media platform.
“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. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”
Incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday described Trump’s statement as strange and extreme and said Republicans will have to make a choice whether to continue embracing Trump.
“Republicans are going to have to work out their issues with the former president and decide whether they’re going to break from him and return to some semblance of reasonableness or continue to lean in to the extremism, not just of Trump, but Trumpism,” Jeffries said.
The future Democrat minority leader has been well known for his own extremism—including his ties to anti-Semitism—and is widely expected to continue the sort of divisive, partisan rhetoric that his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, has long engaged in.
However, the reaction from Republicans coming into powere confirmed fears that they were likely to capitulate to the falsely framed narratives pushed by the Left and its media allies.
Of particular concern is Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee and likely future chair of the committee, who used the Sunday morning talk shows to engage in a sustained show of Trump-bashing.
In his appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Turner acknowledged that he fully supported recent investigations of Trump, including the House Jan. 6 committee and the Justice Department’s Mar-a-Lago raid, and said he’d been working closely on the transition with current Intel chair Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Asked about Trump’s comments Sunday, Turner said he “vehemently” disagrees and “absolutely” condemns the remarks, saying they should be a factor as Republicans decide who should lead their party in 2024.
“There is a political process that has to go forward before anybody is a frontrunner or anybody is even the candidate for the party,” he said. “I believe that people certainly are going to take into consideration a statement like this as they evaluate a candidate.”
Rep.-elect Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also objected to the remarks, saying it was time to stop focusing on the “grievances of prior elections.”
“The Constitution is set for a reason, to protect the rights of every American,” Lawler said. “I think the former president would be well-advised to focus on the future, if he is going to run for president again.”
Trump’s comments came after Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, said released a bombshell file-dump on Friday showing how Twitter engaged in “free speech suppression” leading up to the 2020 election.
The White House on Saturday assailed Trump, saying, “You cannot only love America when you win.”
“The American Constitution is a sacrosanct document that for over 200 years has guaranteed that freedom and the rule of law prevail in our great country,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
