Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post
CNN
By Kristen Holmes, CNN
Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”
Trump’s post came after the release of internal Twitter emails showing deliberation in 2020 over a New York Post story about material found on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Saturday that Trump’s remarks are “anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”
“You cannot only love America when you win,” Bates said in a statement. “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. It’s the ultimate monument to all of the Americans who have given their lives to defeat self-serving despots that abused their power and trampled on fundamental rights.”
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, an outspoken Trump critic, denounced the former president’s Truth Social statement on Sunday. Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, tweeted that Trump’s statement “was his view on 1/6 and remains his view today.”
“No honest person can now deny that Trump is an enemy of the Constitution,” she said.
Cheney, who is leaving the House next month, has attempted to steer the GOP away from the former president’s influence. Her public stance against Trump and her role on the January 6 committee likely led to her defeat in an August primary, though the Republican maverick has picked up a strong national following among moderate Democrats and Republicans alike.
Employees on Twitter’s legal, policy and communications teams debated — and at times disagreed — over whether to restrict the article under the company’s hacked materials policy. The debate took place weeks before the 2020 election, when Joe Biden, Hunter Biden’s father, was running against then-President Trump.
Trump announced his third presidential bid last month and is still widely considered the leader of the Republican Party. Party leaders had hoped that the former president would drop his election denialism rhetoric after lackluster results in the midterms.
Earlier this week Trump expressed support for the rioters behind the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, saying in a video played during a fundraiser that “People have been treated unconstitutionally in my opinion and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
In a September interview, Trump said he was “financially supporting” some January 6 defendants and promised he would issue pardons and a government apology to those being prosecuted if he were reelected.
He has also come under fire for having dinner at his Mar-a-lago resort with known White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, who has recently made a slew of antisemitic remarks.
This story has been updated with additional reaction.
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CNN’s Brian Fung, Arlette Saenz, Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
