Former President Trump on Monday insisted he does not want to “terminate” the Constitution, responding to broad backlash after he said over the weekend its rules and laws should be disregarded so he can return to the White House.
Trump, in a pair of posts on Truth Social, responded to the fallout from his comments on Saturday that the 2020 election should be redone or he should be put back in office. The former president weighed in after internal Twitter communications showed company officials deciding to limit the spread of posts about allegations against Hunter Biden, President’s Biden’s son, in the closing weeks of the 2020 campaign.
“The Fake News is actually trying to convince the American People that I said I wanted to ‘terminate’ the Constitution. This is simply more DISINFORMATION & LIES, just like RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, and all of their other HOAXES & SCAMS,” Trump wrote Monday afternoon, saying he meant that “steps must be immediately taken to RIGHT THE WRONG.”
In a separate, all-capitalized post, Trump wrote that “if an election is irrefutably fraudulent, it should go to the rightful winner or, at a minimum, be redone. Where open and blatant fraud is involved, there should be no time limit for change!”
Trump two days earlier had posted about the Twitter controversy, saying, “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
The comments drew pushback — including from key GOP figures such as former Vice President Mike Pence — though many Republicans have stayed silent following the remarks.
“I must tell you that I think that everyone that serves in public office, everyone that aspires to serve or serve again, should make it clear that we will support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Pence said on a South Carolina radio show on Monday morning.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who defeated a Trump-backed challenger in November, said suggesting the termination of the Constitution “is not only a betrayal of our Oath of Office, it’s an affront to our Republic.”
Trump has for years claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him and that Hunter Biden colluded with his father over his business dealings, though there is no proof of either. But his calls for the Constitution to be ignored so he could be returned to power marked a new level of incendiary rhetoric.
The White House condemned Trump’s comments in a statement of its own.
“The Constitution brings the American people together – regardless of party – and elected leaders swear to uphold it,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. “Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned.”