Trump calls for ‘termination’ of election rules in Constitution to overturn 2020 election

Former President Trump called for the termination of the Constitution’s rules regarding elections to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election following the release of more detailed information about Twitter’s role in suppressing a story about Hunter Biden. 

“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 said in a Truth Social post. 

“Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!” he continued. 

Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates disagreed with this call to terminate Constitutional rules, saying, “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”

“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,” Bates said.

Trump’s post comes after the first of the “Twitter files” on “free speech suppression” were posted on Twitter on Friday. The posts focused on the controversy surrounding President Biden’s son Hunter Biden and Twitter’s reaction limiting the spread of posts about it. 

The New York Post published a story in October 2020, less than a month before Election Day, alleging that Hunter Biden used his influence to connect a Ukrainian businessman with his father while he was serving as vice president. 

A laptop that allegedly was dropped off at a Delaware computer repair shop included evidence demonstrating Hunter Biden’s actions, former Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Post. 

There were widespread concerns about the authenticity of the laptop’s contents at the time, and Twitter took steps to block users from sharing the link to the story on its platform. 

The Federal Election Commission ruled last year that Twitter did not break any election laws when it blocked users from sharing links to the story, saying that it was for a valid commercial reason and not a political one. 

Major news organizations were later able to verify some of the emails on the laptop. 

Trump said the revelations show “MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION” from Big Tech, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party, asking if the 2020 election results should be thrown out and he should be declared the winner or if a new election should be held. 

The posts on Twitter’s response to the Hunter Biden story do not show evidence of a widespread conspiracy to limit the content but some chaos, confusion and disagreement among Twitter employees about the platform’s reasoning for censoring it.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates responded to Trump’s comments on Saturday by say that “attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”

“You cannot only love America when you win,” Bates told The Hill.

Updated 12/4/2022 at 6:15 a.m.