During a televised bipartisan meeting to discuss gun control proposals with members of Congress on Wednesday, President Donald Trump split with conventional Republican wisdom and suggested that guns be confiscated from individuals who could pose safety threats before due process is carried out under the law.
Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse issued a statement rebuking those comments Wednesday night. “We’re not ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn’t like them,” Sasse wrote.
Other Republican senators mostly distanced themselves from Trump’s statement.
“Ummm. I don’t know,” Senate Republican Conference chairman John Thune responded afterward. “I think that’d be hard to sell, based on the conversations our members have had.”
His colleagues argued that such a move by law enforcement would encroach upon constitutional rights. “I don’t ever believe there’s a time in this country where due process can be dismissed, period,” North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis told reporters. He suggested that Trump may not be familiar with the law—“he’s not a legal scholar”—and that he might not have meant what he said.
“I don’t think that he was saying that there’s a place where you suspend the Constitution and suspend due process. I just don’t believe that,” said Tillis. “I know you heard the words. I just don’t believe in my heart of hearts that’s exactly what he meant.”
Trump’s comments came during a conversation about preventing gun violence in the aftermath of a February 14 mass shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead. Vice President Mike Pence spoke about gun violence restraining orders, mentioning an emphasis on allowing for due process, “so that no one’s rights are trampled.”
Trump quickly countered, “Or, Mike, take the firearms first and then go to court, because that’s another system. Because a lot of times, by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court, to get the due process procedures.”
“I like taking the guns early,” the president said shortly after. “So you could do exactly what you’re saying, but take the guns first, go through due process second.”
During the meeting, Trump expressed support for a number of proposals supported by Democrats, such as universal background checks and raising the age to purchase rifles to 21 from 18. He also asserted numerous times that Republicans in Congress are afraid of the National Rifle Association.
Asked whether he supported Trump’s suggestion thatdue process could come after gun confiscation, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake was taken aback. “Uhh,” he said. “Well, any proposal we put forward respects due process, so …”
Is the president just unfamiliar with Republican policy?
“I don’t know,” said Flake.
Louisiana Republican John Kennedy said he disagreed with Trump on the issue, but added that the president is entitled to hold such an opinion: “This is America.”
A senior GOP Senate aide told TWS that Republicans would have been “apoplectic” if Obama had said half of what Trump said during the meeting. “This is why you don’t do high-stakes, hot-button negotiation on live TV with someone who doesn’t know or care about details.”
Trump’s Wednesday meeting was reminiscent of a freewheeling January 9 meeting with lawmakers to discuss a path forward on protecting the Dreamers. That discussion appeared productive at first, with Trump promising to sign whatever immigration agreement Congress could come up with. He was open to a number of ideas, many of them supported by Democrats more so than Republicans. But the discussions fell apart soon afterward, when Trump changed his mind and shot down a bipartisan proposal to solve the problem.
After Wednesday’s gun control meeting, some lawmakers admitted they expected a reversal would come from the White House in the coming days. “At some point, someone will tell the president what he endorsed and it will be like the meeting never happened,” another senior Republican Senate aide predicted.
If that happens, Kennedy said he wouldn’t be concerned by Trump’s tendency to flip-flop. “It doesn’t bother me a bit when someone changes their opinion after thinking things through.”
Democrats said they were encouraged by Trump’s openness to new gun control measures, but most are bracing for an inevitable shift, too.
“I’m afraid what we’re going to see is an exact repeat of the pattern we saw before,” Delaware Democrat Chris Coons told reporters, referring to the failed DACA discussions. “I hope that he will recognize that this is an important moment for him to show genuine national leadership by embracing a strong bipartisan bill that could improve background checks and make Americans safer.”
Asked whether Trump has any credibility left when it comes to policy, considering his previous mixed messages and conflicting statements, Coons said this time around would be revealing.
“If he does it again, where he has a televised, bipartisan positive meeting, and then reverses course almost immediately, I think he’ll lose all credibility,” said Coons.
