Democrats condemned the call by Donald Trump to throw out the Constitution, saying it was a “dangerous” effort by the former president to make himself “dictator.”
Trump made his outrageous proposal in a post on the social network Truth Social, writing: “Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW 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 added that “our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!” in his post on Saturday.
Democrats on Sunday spoke up to bash Trump and his comments.
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New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, newly chosen as House Minority Leader, called Trump’s post “a strange statement.”
“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 Trump-ism,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
“Suspending the Constitution is an extraordinary step, but we’re used to extraordinary statements being made by the former president,” Jeffries said.
Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Joyce, appearing on the same television news show, at first said he did not want to be drawn into the controversy by commenting but then dismissed the former president’s suggestion as not to be taken seriously.
“He says a lot of things,” Joyce said. “I can’t be really chasing every one of these crazy statements.
“He says a lot of things like that, but that doesn’t mean that it’s ever going to happen. So you got to accept fact from fantasy — and fantasy is that we’re going to suspend the Constitution and go backwards,” Joyce said.
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Trump, in his announcement two weeks ago that he was seeking re-election, made little mention of his persistent claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he was the rightful winner.
But he posted his controversial remarks after Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk said the release of internal emails about Twitter’s decision ahead of the 2020 election to block access to a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop would show that the social media giant was pressed by Democrats to suppress the story.
“Days after he hosted men who praise Hitler and the Nazis for dinner, Donald Trump is calling for ‘termination’ of the United States Constitution’s electoral process so that he can be illegally reinstated to power,” Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said in a statement.
“Trump’s words and actions are well beyond the bounds of acceptable political discourse, they stoke hatred and political violence, and they are dangerous,” Beyer said.
On Twitter, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell wrote: “A few hours ago the leader of the republican party donald trump called for destroying the Constitution and making himself dictator.”
Also on Twitter, New York Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres said: “Donald Trump wants to suspend the Constitution in the name of protecting the Constitution, just like he perpetrated election fraud in the name of preventing election fraud
“January 6 was Donald Trump’s attempt at terminating the US Constitution. He’s a repeat offender,” he added.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Trump’s comments were “anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”
“You cannot only love America when you win,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
“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. The Constitution brings the American people together – regardless of party – and elected leaders swear to uphold it,” Bates said.
