Trump Remarks Put GOP on Defense       12/07 06:12

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell delivered 
another rebuke of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying that anyone 
who thinks the Constitution can be suspended would have a "very hard time" 
becoming president in the United States.

   The comment marked the second time in as many weeks that McConnell and other 
Republicans have been compelled to denounce Trump's words and actions since the 
former president announced he is running again for the presidency in 2024.

   It's a dynamic that vexed the GOP throughout Trump's first campaign and 
presidency, but one that has taken on a less forgiving tone now that Trump is 
facing the prospect of a competitive primary and top Republican strategists and 
fundraisers increasingly say the party would be best served by moving on.

   "Let me just say that anyone seeking the presidency who thinks the 
Constitution can somehow be suspended or not followed, it seems to me, would 
have a very hard time being sworn in as President of the United States," 
McConnell said at the Capitol.

   McConnell was responding to Trump's stunningly anti-Democratic statement 
Saturday following revelations of what he cast as Twitter's unfair treatment of 
him during the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden. Trump, who 
has repeatedly called for the election to be overturned, wrote on his social 
media app, "A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the 
termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the 
Constitution."

   McConnell's words Tuesday were nearly identical to those he used last week, 
when he also opened his weekly press conference preemptively responding to 
questions about the former president's behavior after Trump's dinner with a 
white nationalist Holocaust denier and a rapper who has made a series of 
antisemitic statements.

   The senator said then that there was "no room in the Republican Party for 
antisemitism or white supremacy," adding, "Anyone meeting with people 
advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be 
elected president of the United States."

   Reaction from other Republicans has also been critical, even as many GOP 
officials remain unwilling to directly confront Trump, who remains popular with 
the party's base.

   Speaking Tuesday in South Carolina, Mike Pence, Trump's former vice 
president, said that "anyone who serves in public office, anyone who aspires to 
serve in public office or serve again in public office should make it clear 
that they will support and defend the Constitution of the United States."

   Pence, who is widely expected to challenge Trump for the 2024 nomination, 
added that while he believes Americans are eager for a return to the policies 
of the Trump White House, "I really do believe that they want to move on to 
leadership that shows respect for our greatest traditions and respect for 
Americans, whatever their viewpoint."

   On Monday, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said in a tweeted statement: "Anyone 
who desires to lead our country must commit to protecting the Constitution. 
They should not threaten to terminate it."

   "I don't think there was an escape clause to not defend the Constitution," 
added Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

   McConnell, as the Republican leader trying to steer his party in a 
post-Trump era, faces an endless task of reacting to the former president's 
outbursts. The two men have not spoken since McConnell agreed to the Electoral 
College tally for Biden at the end of 2020, and Trump has repeatedly lashed out 
at McConnell at rallies and in social media posts, calling for his ouster.

   Still, McConnell deflected questions Tuesday over whether he could support 
Trump if he becomes the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nominee.

   Instead, the Senate GOP leader reiterated the difficulty of taking the oath, 
which requires the president-elect to defend the Constitution.

   "It would be pretty hard to be sworn into the presidency if you're not 
willing to uphold the Constitution," McConnell said.

   Trump's Saturday embrace of authoritarianism is the latest controversy in a 
young campaign that has thus far included no public events and no travel to 
early-voting states. Instead, It has been dominated by the backlash to his 
dinner with the artist previously known as Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, a known 
white nationalist and Holocaust denier. Trump has said he was unaware of who 
Fuentes was when they met.

   Trump received another setback Tuesday when his namesake company was 
convicted of tax fraud for helping executives dodge taxes on lavish perks such 
as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars, in a significant repudiation of 
financial practices at the former president's business.

   While Trump himself was not on trial, a jury found two corporate entities at 
the Trump Organization guilty on all 17 counts, including conspiracy charges 
and falsifying business records.

   Republicans have been unable to firmly reject Trump as their potential 
nominee even as many of them try to distance themselves from his recent 
activities.

   House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who is in line to become the House speaker 
when Republicans take control in the new year, has yet to respond to Trump, but 
told reporters at the Capitol he fully supports the Constitution.

   Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a staunch Trump critic, tweeted directly at 
McCarthy to denounce Trump's statement.

   "This week Trump said we should terminate all rules, regulations etc 'even 
those in the Constitution' to overturn the election. Are you so utterly without 
principle that you won't condemn this either?" she asked.

   White House spokesperson Andrew Bates also took issue with some members' 
silence. "Asking Members of Congress to reaffirm their oath of office and 
uphold the Constitution should not be a heavy lift," he said in a statement. 
"Congressional Republicans need to do that immediately, instead of repeatedly 
refusing to answer the most basic question."