Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said Monday he’s considering taking on former President Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.
Speaking on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Bolton, who resigned from the Trump administration in 2019, said he would consider a run if it would mean stopping his former boss.
The comments came after Trump’s response to the Twitter Files, in which he said, “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
The 45th president, who has not deleted his Truth Social post, later denied saying he called for terminating the Constitution.
“The Fake News is actually trying to convince the American People that I said I wanted to ‘terminate’ the Constitution. This is simply more DISINFORMATION & LIES,” Trump said Monday.
Bolton said the final straw for him to get in the race would be if no other GOP candidate repudiates the former president.
"I think to be a presidential candidate you can’t simply say, ‘I support the Constitution.’ You have to say, ‘I would oppose people who would undercut it,’" Bolton said. "When you challenge the Constitution itself the way Trump has done, that is un-American."
Bolton argued he believes the vast majority of Republicans "disagree that Donald Trump is more important than the Constitution," but he worries "there are some that would stick with Trump on this."
"I actually think most Republican elected officials in Washington disagree with Trump on this, but they’re intimidated," Bolton noted. "This is the time that there’s strength in numbers. The more people who tell the truth, the easier it is for everybody else.".
BREAKING: Fmr. Nat’l Security Adviser John Bolton is considering a 2024 presidential run if it would prevent fmr. President Trump from taking office again.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 5, 2022
Bolton: “You can’t simply say, ‘I support the Constitution.’ You have to say, ‘I would oppose people who undercut it.’” pic.twitter.com/Twy8pluMYT
Join the conversation as a VIP Member