Senate Democrat: GOP presidential candidates want to end democracy

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) on Sunday dug into the GOP presidential candidates, claiming the group of three — at the time — White House hopefuls would “all undermine democracy.”

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet The Press” just hours before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suspended his presidential bid, Hassan argued his and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, even if it is former President Trump, shows a GOP primary field that would disregard the law.

“Look, Trump is very likely to win the nomination from everything we’re seeing. But I think people need to be really clear here, regardless of which Republican wins the nomination — whether it is Haley, or DeSantis or Trump — they are all committed to rolling this country backwards, to undermining democracy,” Hassan said Sunday morning.

Hassan pointed to a series of past actions and remarks that show Trump “advocates violence,” including remarks in November in which he compared his political enemies to “vermin” who needed to be exposed. The comment drew backlash and comparisons to the rhetoric of a dictator.

“He just did it in New Hampshire, in Claremont a few weeks ago, calling opponents ‘vermin,’ advocating violence. He encouraged violence on Jan. 6. He’s an election denier. He brags about appointing the Supreme Court justices who have rolled back critical rights for America’s women,” Hassan said.

“And yet, Nikki Haley says she’s voting for him. Ron DeSantis says he’s voting for him. So, what we have is a group of Republicans who are all aligned with Donald Trump, would all undermine our democracy and ignore the rule of law,” she continued.

To qualify for the Republican National Committee’s primary debates, all candidates were required to sign a pledge to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee. DeSantis formally endorsed Trump while announcing the suspension of his campaign on Sunday.

Hassan hails from New Hampshire, where Trump and Haley will face off Tuesday in the first-in-the-nation primary. The former president holds an 11.2 percent lead over Haley, based on a polling index by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ that included DeSantis before he dropped out.

DeSantis’s departure from the GOP primary could boost Trump’s lead in the Granite State, according to a CNN/University of New Hampshire poll released hours before DeSantis announced he was dropping out. The poll found 62 percent of likely GOP New Hampshire voters who selected DeSantis as their first-choice candidate chose Trump as their second-choice candidate, while 30 percent chose Haley as their alternate candidate.

Trump easily won in last week’s Iowa caucuses, garnering nearly 30 more points than DeSantis and Haley, who came in third place, according to Decision Desk HQ.