Republican Congressman Dave Joyce (OH) said Sunday he doesn’t agree with failed former president Donald Trump’s social media posting calling for the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution, but doesn’t think that should disqualify him from running for the White House again in 2024.
Appearing on ABC’s “The Week,” Joyce was asked by host George Stephanopoulos, “Now he’s talking about suspending the Constitution. Can you support a candidate in 2024 who’s for suspending the Constitution?”
Joyce responded:
“Well, again, it’s early. I think there are going to be a lot of people in the primary. I think, at the end of the day, you will — whoever the Republicans end up picking, I’ll fall in behind because that’s –”
Stephanopoulos interjected, “Even if it’s Donald Trump and he’s called for suspending the Constitution?”
Again, Joyce refused to say he considered what Trump wrote to be disqualifying:
“Well, again, I think it’s going to be a big field. I don’t think Donald Trump’s going to clear out the field like he did in ’16.”
Once more the host tried to pin Joyce down:
“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking you, if he’s the nominee, will you support him?”
Joyce:
“I will support whoever the Republican nominee is. And just don’t think that, at this point, he will be able to get there because I think there’s a lot of other good quality candidates out there.”
Later in the interview, Joyce told Stephanopoulos:
“Well, you know, he says a lot of things that — but that doesn’t mean that it’s ever going to happen. So you’ve got to separate fact from fantasy. And the fantasy is that we’re going to suspend the Constitution and go backwards. We’re moving forward and we’re going to continue to move forward as a Republican majority and as a Republican conference.”
This is the same sort of gutless double-talk that led to Trump getting the nomination in 2016. Almost no Republican had the spine to call him out so he got a free pass. If that happens again in 2024 and Trump manages to win another term in the White House, this country is doomed.
Here’s the video:
