Wednesday in Springfield, IL at the Old State House, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attacked her general election opponent presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for joking about the Constitution.
Clinton said, “His campaign is as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. It is built on stoking mistrust and pitting American against American. It’s there in everything he says and everything he promises to do as president. It’s there in how he wants to ban Muslims from coming to the United States and toyed with creating a database to track Muslims in America. It’s there in the way he demeans women. In his promotion of an anti-Semitic image pushed by neo-Nazis. And in the months that he spent trying to discredit the citizenship of our first black president.”
On the Constitution, she added, “He has shown contempt for and ignorance of our Constitution. Last week, he met with House Republicans in Washington to try to get their serious concerns about him. One member asked whether he’d protect article 1, which defines a separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch. Here’s the answer he reportedly gave, ‘I want to protect article 1, 2, 12,’ Well here’s the thing, there is no article 12. Not even close. That was a serious question from an elected representative, and he either didn’t care enough to answer it seriously, or he didn’t know where to begin. Even the most stalwart Republicans were alarmed by that, and well they, and we, should be. The very first thing a new president does is take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. To do that with any meaning, you’ve got to know what’s in it. And you have to respect what’s in it.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.