Trump ex-advisor John Bolton says considering 2024 presidential bid

John Bolton, who was former President Donald Trump‘s national security advisor for more than a year, said Monday he is “absolutely” considering launching a 2024 presidential bid — in large part to challenge Trump.

Bolton, speaking on NBC News’ “Meet The Press Now,” said the “one thing” that would spur him to run would be “to make it clear to the people of this country that Donald Trump is unacceptable as the Republican nominee.”

Bolton called it “un-American” for Trump to “challenge the Constitution” when he suggested over the weekend that the nation’s supreme law could be terminated in order to put him back in the White House.

Bolton, who has periodically been a vocal Trump critic since departing his administration in September 2019, called the former president’s declaration “an existential threat to the republic itself.”

Trump, who has regularly spread false claims of widespread election fraud since his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, claimed in a social media post Saturday that, “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 appeared to walk back that statement earlier Monday, saying it was “Fake News” to claim he “wanted to ‘terminate’ the Constitution.” In follow-up posts, Trump declared in all caps that “IF AN ELECTION IS IRREFUTABLY FRAUDULENT, IT SHOULD GO TO THE RIGHTFUL WINNER OR, AT A MINIMUM, BE REDONE.”

Bolton rejected Trump’s clarifications, saying his sentiment is “not merely wrong and outrageous, it is disqualifying.”

“Donald Trump, if he were to take the oath of office again, God forbid, would either be lying about preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution, or maybe he wouldn’t say it at all,” Bolton said. “You can’t have this kind of approach. It’s not something one can disagree with. This is foundational to the republic.”

Bolton called on GOP leaders to denounce Trump, who is currently the only Republican to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. Numerous other Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Trump’s ex-Vice President Mike Pence, are expected to be gearing up to run for the GOP nomination.

The Biden administration said attacks on the Constitution should be “universally condemned.” Many top Republicans, however, have avoided publicly addressing Trump’s remarks when asked for comment.

Bolton, noting that many Republican leadership roles are currently up for consideration, said that every prospective candidate should repudiate Trump’s remarks.

“And honestly, if they don’t, there’s one thing that would get me to get into the presidential race, which I looked at in prior elections, it would be to make it clear to the people of this country that Donald Trump is unacceptable as the Republican nominee,” Bolton said.

When pressed on those remarks, Bolton confirmed he would “absolutely” consider getting into the 2024 race. To be a presidential candidate, he said, one must not…