The White House has condemned former President Donald Trump after he called for the "termination" of the US constitution. Mr Trump made the comments in a post to his Truth Social account on Saturday while repeating his false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.
In the post, Mr Trump referred to vague allegations of "massive & widespread fraud and deception" and asked whether he should be immediately returned to power. "A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," he wrote.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Mr Trump's comments were "anathema to the soul of our nation". "You cannot only love America when you win," Mr Bates said, adding that the remarks should be "universally condemned" – a pointed jab at senior Republicans who have so far avoided criticism.
Other senior Democrats also challenged Republicans, including Representative Eric Swalwell, who questioned how party members could call themselves "Constitutional conservatives" if they did not condemn the remarks. The backlash came just hours after Twitter's internal deliberations around limiting a 2020 story about Hunter Biden were revealed by Substack writer Matt Taibbi.
The leaked emails showed confusion among staff handling the New York Post story, which was initially blocked under a policy on hacked materials. Twitter owner Elon Musk defended the release, saying it was "necessary to restore public trust", while acknowledging potential "legal risk".
Mr Trump announced his third presidential bid last month and is a frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024. He has also faced criticism this week after dining with a known white nationalist and Holocaust denier, claiming he was unaware the man would be present.
