Former national security adviser John Bolton said on Monday he was considering a run for president “to stop some of the things Trump has done to the party,” following the suggestion by his former boss on Saturday to allow “termination” of the Constitution.
“I’d like to see Shermanesque statements from all the potential candidates,” Bolton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW,” calling for a clear repudiation from other Republicans. “If I don’t see that, then I’m going to seriously consider getting in.”
Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen — as he’s regularly done over the past two years — and said that so-called fraud “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Bolton called that statement “disqualifying.”
He didn’t give an exact timeline on when he might officially announce a campaign, but said “it might be earlier than some would think.” So far, Trump is the only major Republican candidate to have declared his candidacy for 2024.
Bolton served in Trump’s administration, but he was ousted in 2019 after clashing with the president. In his 2020 book, Bolton asserted that Trump posed a danger to the country, leading to further conflict with the administration.
“When you challenge the Constitution itself the way Trump has done, that is un-American,” Bolton told NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
Bolton said he believed that “nearly 95 percent” of Republican voters agreed that the Constitution was more important than Trump, and he questioned why other potential candidates hadn’t more forcefully denounced Trump’s statement, which he made on his Truth Social platform.
“What does a candidate have to lose by appealing to 95 percent of the base of the Republican Party?” Bolton said.