白宫周一和国会的一些共和党人谴责前总统唐纳德·特朗普呼吁“终止”宪法规则——而共和党国会领导人对特朗普的评论保持沉默，民主党人要求共和党人指责他。
当被问及特朗普的评论时，白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔说，她想“小心”她在新闻发布会上的回答特朗普已经宣布参选2024年但提醒他自己的政府官员称2020年的选举是美国历史上最安全的。
“特朗普政府的司法部长和80多名联邦法官也支持这一决定，(其中许多)法官是由唐纳德·特朗普本人提名的，”她说。“因此，在2022年，美国人民团结起来，在过去的中期选举中，彻底拒绝了我们一直听到的危险阴谋-我们一直听到的前总统和许多共和党人的弥天大谎。”
Former President Donald Trump reacts to applause after speaking at the North Carolina GOP convention dinner in Greenville, North Carolina, June 5, 2021.
乔纳森·德雷克/路透社，档案
“美国人民已经非常清楚了，”她补充道。“他们反对共和党人谈论此事的方式。他们反对极端MAGA官员参与的暴力言论，所以我们应该听听美国人民几周前说的话，”指的是中期选举。
她的副手安德鲁·贝茨周六在一份声明中说，“攻击宪法及其所代表的一切是对我们国家灵魂的诅咒，应该受到普遍谴责。”
这位前总统周六在Truth Social上发表帖子，呼吁“终止所有规则，法规和条款，甚至是宪法中的条款”，并引用了2020年被揭穿的选民欺诈指控，这些指控在法庭上失败了数十次。
在一片批评声中，特朗普周一在Truth Social上发布了另一份声明，试图否认他发布了同样多的内容，并驳斥了关于他周六帖子的报道，称其为“虚假信息和谎言”
“假新闻实际上是试图让美国人民相信，我说过我想‘终止’宪法，”他说。
共和党国会领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)和众议员凯文·麦卡锡(John McConnell)周一在寻求成为众议院议长的最后阶段，尚未对特朗普的评论发表意见——这是在特朗普支持赫歇尔·沃克(Herschel Walker)的佐治亚州参议院决选前几天发表的。
麦康奈尔告诉记者，我们将在周二的每周新闻发布会上解决这个问题，此前他没有在周一的参议院发言中解决这个问题。与此同时，麦卡锡一周前在推特上说，即将到来的共和党领导的国会“将在第一天从众议院大声读出宪法的每一个字”，在所有成员宣誓维护宪法之后。
与此同时，特朗普的一些最热情的捍卫者并没有试图为他的言论开脱或辩护。
“我相信宪法，我相信法治，我相信我们应该执行它，”佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特说。“每个人都要公平。不得不遵守。”
“是的，我认为他说的不恰当，”参议员林赛·格雷厄姆周一说。
当美国广播公司(ABC)的杰伊·奥布莱恩(Jay O'Brien)就特朗普的言论是否会取消资格向格雷厄姆施压时，他说，“我不这么认为。”
密苏里州共和党参议员乔希·霍利不支持中止宪法。
他的密苏里州同事、即将退休的参议员罗伊·布朗特(Roy Blunt)是参议院规则委员会的最高共和党人，他帮助特朗普宣誓就任总统，他说，“嗯，当他宣誓就职时，我站在离他10英尺的地方，没有不遵守宪法的紧急条款，”布朗特在被问及这些评论时说道。
特朗普的前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿周一告诉美国全国广播公司，如果共和党人不更强烈地反对特朗普的建议，他将“认真考虑”在2024年竞选总统。
“当你挑战宪法本身时，那就是非美国式的。如果目前的共和党总统候选人不否定特朗普，我准备参加竞选，”博尔顿说发微博，还有一段采访的片段。
阿拉斯加州共和党参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基在第二次弹劾审判中投票给前总统定罪，最近赢得了参议院的连任，他在推特上谴责了这一评论。
“建议终止宪法不仅是对我们就职誓言的背叛，也是对我们共和国的冒犯，”穆尔科斯基在推特上写道。
周一下午，南达科他州的共和党参议员迈克·轮斯(Mike Rounds)在推特上罕见地批评了这位前总统，但没有提到特朗普的名字。
“正如我以前说过的那样，没有证据表明广泛的选民欺诈会改变2020年选举的结果，”Rounds写道。“任何想要领导我们国家的人都必须致力于保护宪法。他们不应该威胁要终止它。”
周一，得克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁在国会大厦称川普的言论是“不负责任的”。
“我不知道为什么有人会说这样的话——当然不是一个前总统，”Cornyn说。
即将离任的众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)和亚当·金辛格(Adam Kinzinger)是1月6日专责委员会中唯一的共和党人，他们也发出了警告特朗普的评论。
切尼说:“唐纳德·特朗普认为，我们应该终止‘所有规则、法规和条款，甚至是宪法中的那些’，以推翻2020年的选举。”“这是他在1/6时的观点，至今仍是他的观点。现在没有一个诚实的人可以否认特朗普是宪法的敌人。”
“前总统呼吁抛开宪法，没有一个保守派可以合法地支持他，没有一个支持者可以被称为保守派。这太疯狂了。金辛格在推特上写道，“特朗普讨厌宪法”，并标记了麦卡锡和众议员爱丽丝·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)和吉姆·乔丹(Jim Jordan)的反应。
俄亥俄州众议员戴夫·乔伊斯(Dave Joyce)是众议院共和党人，他周日告诉美国广播公司(ABC)“本周”主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯(George Stephanopoulos)，特朗普的评论并不是他在2024年支持前总统的交易破坏者。
这是连续几周以来，国会山的共和党人第二次在周一开始回答关于特朗普的问题。特朗普仍然是他们事实上的党内领袖，也是目前唯一的2024年候选人。共和党人上周处理了特朗普与一位著名的反犹太人和白人民族主义者会面的余波。
参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周一在参议院发表严厉指责称，特朗普“似乎不能在一周内不做或不说一些令人恶心、不光彩和坦率地取消更高职位资格的事情。”
“在呼吁终止宪法的同时，怎么会有人希望就任总统——宣誓就职——来维护和保护宪法?”舒默说。"从表面上看，这完全不符合资格。"
“当一位前总统呼吁终止美国宪法时，不能有沉默，不能含糊其辞，只能是彻底和激烈的谴责，”他补充说。"所以，对我的共和党同事来说，够了."
GOP leaders silent so far on Trump's call for 'termination' of Constitution's rules
The White House on Monday and some Republicans in Congress condemnedformer President Donald Trump's call for "termination" of the Constitution's rules-- while GOP congressional leaders kept silent on Trump's comment and Democrats demanded Republicans rebuke him.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, asked about Trump's comment, said she wanted to be "careful" about how she answered from the briefing room podium sinceTrump has declared his candidacy for 2024but reminded that his own administration officials have called the 2020 election the most secure in American history.
"It was also upheld by the Trump administration's attorney general, and by over 80 federal judges, [many] of whom were nominated by Donald Trump himself," she said. "And so in 2022, the American people came together, these past midterms, and utterly rejected the dangerous conspiracy that we have been hearing -- the big lie that we have been hearing from the former president, but also many Republicans."
"The American people have been very clear," she added. "They oppose the way that Republicans have talked about this. They oppose the violent rhetoric that extreme MAGA officials have engaged in, and so we should listen to what the American people had to say just a couple of weeks ago," referring to themidterm elections.
Her deputy, Andrew Bates, said in a statement Saturday, "Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned."
The former president, in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, called for the "termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," citing debunked claims of voter fraud in 2020, claims that failed in court dozens of times.
Amid a flood of criticism, Trump posted another statement Monday on Truth Social attempting to deny that he posted as much, dismissing reports of his Saturday post as "disinformation and lies,"
"The Fake News is actually trying to convince the American People that I said I wanted to 'terminate' the Constitution," he said.
Republican congressional leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, in the final stretch on his quest to become House speaker, on Monday had yet to weigh in on Trump's comment -- which came just days ahead of a Senate runoff in Georgia where Trump has backed Herschel Walker.
McConnell told reporters we would address the issue in his weekly news conference on Tuesday after not addressing in his Monday Senate floor remarks. McCarthy, meanwhile, tweeted just over a week ago that the incoming Republican-led Congress "will read every single word of the Constitution aloud from the floor of the House," on its first day, after all members take an oath to uphold the Constitution.
At the same time, some of Trump's most ardent defenders did not try to excuse or justify his comments.
"I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in the rule of law and believe we should enforce it," Florida Sen. Rick Scott, said. "Everybody's gotta be even. Have to abide by it."
"Yeah, I think what he said was inappropriate," Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday.
When ABC's Jay O'Brien pressed Graham on whether Trump's comments were disqualifying, he said, "I don't think so."
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley he doesn't support suspension of the Constitution.
His Missouri colleague, retiring Sen. Roy Blunt, as the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, helped swear Trump in as president, said, "Well, I was standing ten feet from him when he took the oath of office and there was no emergency clause not to follow the Constitution," Blunt said when asked about the comments.
Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, told NBC on Monday that he will "seriously consider" running for president in 2024 if Republicans don't come out stronger against Trump's suggestion.
"When you challenge the Constitution itself, that is un-American. If the current GOP presidential candidates don't repudiate Trump, I'm prepared to get in the race," Boltontweeted, along with a clip of the interview.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict the former president in his second impeachment trial, and recently won reelection to the Senate, condemned the comment on Twitter.
"Suggesting the termination of the Constitution is not only a betrayal of our Oath of Office, it's an affront to our Republic," Murkowski tweeted.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota tweeted rare criticism of the former president on Monday afternoon, without using Trump's name.
"As I've said before, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would alter the results of the 2020 election," Rounds wrote. "Anyone who desires to lead our country must commit to protecting the Constitution. They should not threaten to terminate it."
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.
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.
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."
