GOP leaders silent on Trump's call for 'termination' of the Constitution

published 5 December 2022

Former President Donald Trump suggested Saturday morning that Twitter's 2020 decision to restrict a story about Hunter Biden's stolen laptop entitles him to either be declared president or get an electoral do-over, claiming a "massive fraud" of this magnitude "allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

Republicans who have already broken with their party over its support for Trump were quick to condemn the former president and ask why Republican leaders have stayed silent on what The Washington Post calls "a significant escalation in his attacks on American institutions and democratic norms" that "must be heeded as a sign of how far he is willing to go to regain power."

The Atlantic's Ron Brownstein suggested these Republican have a point.

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"This is what kills my party right now," former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Republican who is considering a 2024 presidential campaign against Trump, told ABC's This Week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not put out a statement and declined the Post's request for comment, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the odds-on favorite to be House speaker next Congress, "was not asked about Trump's remarks in an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo but was sympathetic to the underlying assertions at the heart of Trump's attack" on Big Tech, Politico reports.

A handful of lesser-known Republican lawmakers did denounce Trump's comments on constitutional "termination" on the Sunday news programs, but none of them seemed excited about discussing the post and "most still hesitated to say that they would oppose Trump if he becomes the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee," the Post reports.

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The White House, for its part, quickly condemned Trump's comment. "You cannot only love America when you win," spokesman Andrew Bates said Saturday. "Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation."

Incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told This Week he thought Trump made "a strange statement, but the 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 into the extremism, not just of Trump, but of Trumpism."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.