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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been rebuked by Democratic and Republican officials after he called for “termination” of parts of the Constitution over lies about his 2020 election being stolen.
Mr Trump, who last month announced he was running for president again, made the announcement over the weekend on his Truth social media platform.
“Massive fraud of this type and scale allows for the termination of all rules, regulations and provisions, even those in the Constitution,” he wrote. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want and will not condone a sham and rigged election!”
Incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Trump’s statement bizarre and extreme and said Republicans will have to choose whether to continue with the former president’s anti-Democratic views.
“Republicans are going to have to sort out their problems with the former president and decide whether they want to break with him and restore some semblance of rationality, or continue to lean toward extremism, not just Trump, but Trump populism,” Mr Jeffries said.
Mr. Trump, the first person to be impeached twice, faced constant criticism at the end of his term when his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to fatally prevent a peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021. An escalated criminal investigation, including several that could lead to prosecution.
These include an investigation into classified documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago and ongoing state and federal investigations related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Asked about Mr. Trump’s comments on Sunday, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner of Ohio, said he “strongly” disagreed and “absolutely” condemned the comments, which he said should be Become a factor in Republicans deciding who should lead their party in 2024.
“Before anybody becomes a frontrunner or anybody even becomes the party’s candidate, there has to be a political process,” he said.
“I’m sure people will certainly consider statements like this when evaluating candidates.”
Republican-elect Mike Lawler also objected to the remarks, saying it was time to stop focusing on the “grievances of prior elections”.
“The Constitution was created for a reason, to protect the rights of every American,” Mr. Lawler said.
“I think if a former president is going to run for president again, he’d better look to the future.”
Trump’s comments came after Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, said he would reveal how the platform was engaging in “free speech suppression” ahead of the 2020 election.
But the documents released on Friday focused on the tech company’s confused response to the story about Hunter, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, and showed no attempt by Democrats to limit the story.
The White House blasted Mr Trump on Saturday, saying: “You can’t love America only when you win.”
“The U.S. Constitution is a sacrosanct document that has guaranteed for more than 200 years that liberty and the rule of law prevail in our great nation,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.
“Attacking the Constitution and everything it stands for is a curse to the soul of our country.”
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