John Bolton, who served as national security adviser under President Donald Trump, says if he chooses to run for president in 2024, he will be “in to win it.”
“I would get in to win it, not simply to make a point,” Bolton said Friday.
His comments come just four days after he said he was prepared to get into the race if Trump’s comments regarding terminating parts of the Constitution weren’t condemned by others in the Republican Party.
“What started the process really on [a very] accelerated basis was Trump’s statement about terminating the Constitution to put him in the presidency or hold a new election and the relative lack of comment by many of … the potential Republican [presidential candidates],” Bolton told Fox News Digital.
FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER BRANDS TRUMP AS ‘OLD AND TIRED’
“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 in a post on Truth Social last week.
“I view it really as roughly equivalent to saying [Trump] wants to overthrow the government,” Bolton said.
He explained that a president takes an oath when becoming president to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. If Trump were to take that oath again, “he wouldn’t mean it,” Bolton argued.
“When you challenge the Constitution itself, that is un-American,” he tweeted at the time.
When you challenge the Constitution itself, that is un-American. You can’t simply say, ‘I support the Constitution.’ You have to say, ‘I would oppose people who undercut it.’ If the current GOP presidential candidates don’t repudiate Trump, I’m prepared to get in the race. pic.twitter.com/TFYQYbuX31
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 6, 2022
Sens. Mitch McConnell (KY), John Thune (SD), and Mitt Romney (UT) are among the Republicans who have publicly chastised Trump’s comments. Trump, for his part, insists his comments were taken out of context.
The former Trump administration official has also denounced his former boss as being “old and tired” and criticizing him for his repeated claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” and that he lost to President Joe Biden because of “massive voter fraud.”
He is just one of several Trump allies who have spoken out against the former president, including former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Vice President Mike Pence. All three have also been floated as 2024 presidential contenders.
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“If we’re ever going to move beyond Trump, we need to do it in a definitive way,” Bolton argued.
“And I think part of leadership is being willing to go out front to make the point so that others know that you’re prepared to make hard decisions,” he added.
The former Trump administration official said Monday that the time frame for his decision would be “pretty short.”
