8:38
- ABC News
- Donald Trump
- December 5, 2022
GOP leaders silent on Trump's Constitution comment
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he would weigh in Tuesday.
Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn called Trump's comments \"irresponsible\" at the Capitol on Monday.
\"I don't know why anybody would say something like that -- certainly not an ex-president,\" Cornyn said.
Asked abut Trump's comments In an interview with WVOC, former Vice President Mike Pence said, \"I must tell you that I think that everyone that serves in public office, everyone that aspires to serve or to serve again should make it clear that we will support and defend the Constitution of the United States which I believe by God's grace I was able to do not only during my tenure as Vice President but in those tumultuous days at the end.\" He did not mention Trump by name.
Outgoing Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only Republicans to sit on the Jan. 6 select committee, also called out the comment to warn against Trump.
\"Donald Trump believes we should terminate 'all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution' to overturn the 2020 election,\" Cheney said. \"That 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.\"
\"With the former President calling to throw aside the constitution, not a single conservative can legitimately support him, and not a single supporter can be called a conservative. This is insane. Trump hates the constitution,\" Kinzinger tweeted, tagging McCarthy and Reps. Elise Stefanik and Jim Jordan for their reaction.
Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce, a leading House Republican, told ABC \"This Week\" anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that Trump's comment was not a deal-breaker for him supporting the former president in 2024.
Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on whether he'd support Donald Trump despite Trump's calls for suspending the Constitution, Rep. Dave Joyce says: \"I'll support whoever the Republican nominee is.\"
— ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2022
\"I just don't think at this point he'll be able to get there.\"https://t.co/7sN0D47ubS pic.twitter.com/ivC91uwwye
This marks the second time in back-to-back weeks that Republicans on Capitol Hill have started their Mondays having to answer questions about Trump -- who remains their de facto party leader and only current 2024 candidate. Republicans last week fielded fallout over Trump's meeting with a renowned antisemite and white nationalist.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a stern rebuke from the Senate floor on Monday, said Trump \"cannot seem to go a week without doing or saying something disgusting, dishonorable and frankly disqualifying for higher office.\"
\"How can anyone hope to take the presidential office -- oath of office -- to preserve and protect the Constitution, while simultaneously calling for the Constitution's termination?\" Schumer said. \"It's wholly disqualifying on its face.\"
\"When a former president calls for the termination of the U.S. Constitution, there can be no silence, no equivocation, nothing less than total and fierce condemnation,\" he added. \"So, to my Republican colleagues, enough is enough.\"
ABC News' Olivia Rubin and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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