Bill Cassidy, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, was confronted on NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday morning regarding whether or not the former president will follow the U.S. Constitution if reelected.
"Now, that is a hypothetical and that is hard for me to, kind of, go at," the Louisiana senator told host Kristen Welker. "That's the kind of question people ask, almost begging an answer. We have checks and balances in our system that if any one person attempts to act in an unconstitutional fashion, they can be theoretically checked."
The Context:
Cassidy voted to convict Trump of an impeachment charge that accused the former president of provoking the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol in a decision that separated the Republican senator from most others within his caucus.
Soon after the impeachment trial's final hearing, Cassidy said in February 2021 that he supported the conviction because the former president "is guilty."
"Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty," he wrote on social media at the time.
What We Know:
In December 2022, Trump once again pushed the baseless claim that he lost the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud.
"A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, on December 3, 2022. "Our great 'Founder' did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!"
The former president's post was denounced by the White House and led to calls urging for then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to intervene.
Trump later attempted to walk back his statement, writing via Truth Social on December 5, 2022: "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."
He continued: "What I said was that when there is 'MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION,' as has been irrefutably proven in the 2020 Presidential Election, steps must be immediately taken to RIGHT THE WRONG. Only FOOLS would disagree with that and accept STOLEN ELECTIONS. MAGA!"
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for a statement on Sunday morning. This story will be updated with any provided comments.
Views:
When pressed by Welker on Sunday, Cassidy said that President Joe Biden acted in an "unconstitutional fashion" by forgiving billions in student loan debt through the HEROES Act, which was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling.
Welker asked if Cassidy if it was fair to compare the act of student loan forgiveness to overturning a free and fair election.
"I'm not establishing equivalency at all. Period, end of story," Cassidy remarked. "There is not. But I can't theoretically say in the hypothetical that Trump's going to do one thing or another."
Earlier this month, Welker asked another Republican, former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, whether she believed if Trump will follow the U.S. Constitution if elected to a second term.
Welker asked, "What does that say about the state of the Republican Party if you don't know if the GOP frontrunner will follow the Constitution?"
"That's not the Republican Party. That is Donald Trump," Haley responded. "What I am saying is, we deserve better. Americans deserve better. We can't say our best two options are Joe Biden and Donald Trump."
What's Next?
Trump just wrapped up an eventful legal week, with major developments in three of the four criminal cases the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is facing.
In Georgia, Nathan Wade resigned as special prosecutor in Trump's election interference case after a judge concluded he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Separately in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a bid by Trump's legal team to have his classified documents case dismissed. Then, in New York, his trial over allegedly facilitating the payment of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels was delayed.
Attorney Bernard Alexander, a partner at the Los Angeles-based firm Alexander Morrison + Fehr, LLP, previously told Newsweek that Trump's legal team is likely pleased with the past week and believe they have achieved a series of "small victories."
Trump has pled not guilty to all the charges he is facing in the hush money, classified documents and Georgia election interference cases, along with separate federal charges related to allegations he broke the law attempting to overturn the 2020 election on a nationwide basis.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Gabe Whisnant is Deputy Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in South Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed ... Read more
