Donald Trump on Monday backtracked on his call to “repeal” the US Constitution – but insists he should still be declared the “legal winner” of the 2020 election.
The former president attempted to clarify his comments via Truth Social after posting on his platform that he wanted the Constitution to be “repealed” in relation to its electoral laws.
It appeared to come in response to a report titled “Twitter Files” promoted by Elon Musk. It showed correspondence from Twitter employees regarding the censorship of the New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop under the site’s “hacked materials” policy.
Trump and his allies have hailed it as conclusive evidence of voter rigging, claiming Twitter suppressed the story to help incumbent President Joe Biden.
He suggested on Monday that the 2020 election was “irrefutably fraudulent” and said “at the very least” the results should be annulled and the race held again.
“The fake news is actually trying to convince the American people that I said I wanted to ‘repeal’ the Constitution. This is just more DISINFORMATION & LIES just like RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA and all their other HOAXES & SCAMS,” the ex-President wrote on Truth Social.
“What I was saying was that where there is ‘massive and widespread fraud and deception,’ as was irrefutably demonstrated in the 2020 presidential election, immediate steps must be taken to RIGHT THE WRONG.”
Trump’s comments over the weekend drew bipartisan anger and even sparked a scathing rebuke from the White House.
In the second of three posts, he wrote in capital letters: “Put simply, if an election is irrefutably fraudulent, it should go to the rightful winner, or at least be repeated. Where open and blatant fraud is involved, there should be no deadline for change!’
“We want people who won the election ‘legitimately’ to lead our country, not people who had to cheat to win!!!” Trump finished.
Donald Trump blamed the “fake news” for a backlash against his angry tirade calling for the “repeal” of the US Constitution on Monday
Just before 8 a.m. Saturday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to claim that Musk’s exposé, released by journalist Matt Taibbi, proved 2020 was “fraudulent” and called for the current election laws to be removed from the US Constitution .
‘So, in exposing MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in close cooperation with Big Tech Companies, the DNC and the Democratic Party, are you throwing out the results of the 2020 Presidential Election and declaring the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or are you having a NEW ELECTION?’ The ex-president was furious.
“A massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the repeal of all rules, regulations and articles, even those contained in the Constitution. Our great ‘founders’ would not and will not condone false and fraudulent elections.’
Now he’s stepping down amid a wave of condemnation from fellow Republicans.
When asked about Trump’s “quitting” comments by CNN, Senate Republican No. 2 John Thune said he “couldn’t disagree anymore.”
He said the constitution is “the principle, the foundation of our country.”
“Anyone who wants to lead our country must be committed to protecting the Constitution,” GOP Senator Mike Rounds said in a statement. “You shouldn’t threaten to end it.”
He also noted that there was “no evidence of widespread voter fraud” in 2020.
The Biden White House blasted Trump on Saturday after he called for the “cancellation” of the US Constitution.
President Joe Biden’s White House on Saturday condemned Trump for the angry response to Elon Musk’s “Twitter files.”
On Sunday, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said he “absolutely” disagrees with Trump’s calls, suggesting the explosive comments could have a negative impact on his 2024 presidential campaign.
The former president made the explosive statement in the early hours of Saturday morning, after Elon Musk claimed to have presented evidence that Twitter – which he recently acquired for $44 billion – had colluded with Democrats to help win the 2020 election to tip the scales.
It revolved around correspondences between top Twitter officials about the suppression of the New York Post’s infamous story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was published in October 2020.
Trump responded with a lengthy tirade on his Truth Social app, calling for a complete overhaul of the United States electoral system and the suspension of constitutional rules.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates was quick to rebuke Trump in a harsh statement: “Attacks on the Constitution and all it stands for are anathema to the soul of our nation and should be universally condemned.”
“You can’t love America just by winning,” Bates said. “The American Constitution is an untouchable document that has guaranteed for over 200 years that liberty and the rule of law shall prevail in our great country.”
“The Constitution brings the American people together — regardless of party — and elected leaders swear to uphold it. It is the ultimate memorial to all the Americans who gave their lives to defeat self-interested despots who abused their power and trampled on basic rights.’
GOP House Representative Mike Turner told CBS News of Face The Nation of Trump’s angry comments, “It certainly doesn’t align with the oath we all take.”
“I vehemently disagree with what Trump said,” he said.
GOP Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, also dismissed Trump’s comments, saying they were “not consistent with the oath we all take.”
President Trump called for the “cancellation” of the Constitution on his own social media platform while repeating his bogus 2020 election claims. Asked if this should disqualify Trump for re-election, Rep. Mike Turner says it is “not in the consistent with the oath we all take.” pic.twitter.com/hGpAjzLrrZ
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 4, 2022
Turner went further on Sunday, suggesting it could hurt the former president early in the 2024 election cycle — with Trump being the only GOP candidate to officially declare a campaign so far.
“There is a political process that has to go ahead before anyone is a front runner and anyone even becomes the party’s nominee,” said the House Republican.
“And I believe, to answer your question, that people will certainly consider a statement like that when evaluating a candidate.”
The “Twitter files” synced by Musk show Twitter employees going back and forth trying to justify their censorship of the Hunter Biden story under the site’s hacked materials rules. It appears that many senior platform officials were hesitant about whether Hunter Biden’s laptop was accessed in an unscrupulous manner.
Taibbi also provides screenshots showing Twitter employees complying with Biden campaign requests to remove certain links — a practice followed by both campaigns at the time.
Links sent by the Biden team allegedly contained nude photos of Hunter Biden that were posted without his consent.
While Musk made suggestions that Democrats could have helped violate the First Amendment, Taibbi’s reporting points out that the Trump administration, then in power, made the same demands on Twitter.
Trump, in another Truth Social post, written just after midnight Saturday, complained that the federal government should be investigating alleged “corruption” instead of the classified files he unlawfully stole from the White House in January 2021.
Trump’s call came after Elon Musk led the release of internal Twitter communications related to a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop
He called on the federal government to investigate alleged censorship efforts by Twitter over an investigation into the handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home
Trump also urged his supporters to “take back our country” in a post late Saturday night.
‘Wow! This is a really big story about Twitter and various forms of government fraud, including voter fraud in particular. The same level of fraud took place at the other big tech companies, if not worse (if that’s possible?),” Trump wrote.
“We live in a VERY CORRUPT COUNTRY &, AS THEY SAY ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET, ‘NOTHING WILL BE DONE BECAUSE THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT AND FBI ARE COMPLETELY CORRUPT.’ WH were taken.
In an even earlier post just before 11pm Friday night, Trump urged his supporters to “take back our country” as he began his increasingly angry tirade over the Musk Twitter files.
“I’m glad everyone is now seeing the light on what I’ve been saying loud and clear for the past two years that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen by a combination of Democrats, big tech, ‘law enforcement’ and other bad actors ‘ the former president wrote.
“Unfortunately, we have become a corrupt country, perhaps one of the most corrupt in the world. We MUST right this terrible injustice and take back our country!’