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Donald Trump gives a two-word answer on upholding the US Constitution
Trump also said he was not seriously considering running for a constitutionally barred third term and blamed Biden for the "bad parts" of the current economy.
US President Donald Trump evaded a question on upholding the constitution on Sunday, saying that he does not know whether he must uphold the supreme law of the land as the Commander-in-Chief.
In a wide-ranging NBC News interview, the 78-year-old Republican also said he was not seriously considering running for a constitutionally barred third White House term and blamed his presidential predecessor, Joe Biden, for the "bad parts" of the current economy.
When NBC's "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker asked if people in the United States -- citizens and non-citizens alike -- deserve the due process of law, as the US Constitution states, Trump said: “I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.”
Pressed more generally on whether he believes he needs to uphold the supreme law of the land, Trump repeated: "I don't know."
Trump has drawn widespread criticism for allegedly ignoring due process and repeatedly brushing up against constitutional guardrails since returning to the White House in January, notably over his policy of mass deportations of undocumented migrants. Some of the migrants were deported without the benefit of a court hearing. The said interview was recorded on Friday and aired on Sunday.
According to the Republican, such rapid expulsions are necessary in the face of what he has declared to be a "national emergency," and that giving every migrant a court trial would take "300 years.”
The Fifth Amendment provides “due process of law,” meaning a person has certain rights when being prosecuted for a crime. Also, the 14th Amendment says no state can “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Republican senator criticises Donald Trump
The remarks made by Donald Trump in the interview about the Constitution quickly made waves in Washington, including among some Republicans.
"We're either a free society governed by the Constitution or we're not," Republican Senator Rand Paul, a self-described constitutional conservative, posted on X without additional comment.
Trump also appeared to backtrack on his earlier assertion that he could run for a third term, now saying that he is looking for four great years and then hand it over.
