Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Biden administration attacks Trump call to terminate Constitution: ‘You cannot only love America when you win’

Former president’s comments have invited bipartisan ire

Stuti Mishra
Monday 05 December 2022 08:58 EST
Comments
GOP rep refuses to denounce Trump’s call to ‘terminate’ Constitution

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Joe Biden administration has attacked Donald Trump’s call to “terminate” parts of the US Constitution to overturn the 2020 election, with an official calling it an “anathema to the soul of the nation”.

Reacting to the statement made by the former president on Saturday, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said: “Attacking the constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned.”

Mr Bates called the constitution a “sacrosanct document”, adding: “You cannot only love America when you win.”

The former president’s comments have invited bipartisan ire with some Republicans condemning the comments while others refuse to react.

“Well, obviously I don’t support that,” representative-elect Mike Lawler said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “The constitution is set for a reason, to protect the rights of every American.”

Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Mr Trump, tweeted that his statement “was his view on 1/6 and remains his view today”.

Continuing with his denial of the 2020 election results, Mr Trump called for the termination of the constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power on Saturday in a post on his Truth Social profile.

“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Mr Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social.

“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 also accused “big tech” of working closely with Democrats — his statement coming right after the release of internal Twitter emails about material found on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

“Our great ‘founders’ did not want, and would not condone, false & fraudulent elections!” he said.

Mr Trump, who has been baselessly alleging voter fraud in the 2020 elections for two years, and is under investigation for provoking 6 January Capitol riot, has announced that he will contest elections once again in 2024.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in