John Bolton, a former national security adviser, explained he would be willing to run against former President Donald Trump for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination should no other candidate step up to condemn Trump’s actions.
On Monday (December 5), Bolton made his statements on NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW.”
Bolton acknowledged that while there were a “dozen or more potential candidates” for the 2024 GOP nomination, but explained that if no candidate declared: “Donald Trump was wrong. We repudiate him,” Bolton would consider running.
Bolton expressed that if no candidate declared, “[Trump] doesn’t belong in the Republican Party,” it would prompt him to “get into the presidential race.”
He added that his purpose when running against Trump “would be to make it clear to the people of this country that Donald Trump is unacceptable as the Republican nominee.”
Bolton served as a national security adviser in the Trump administration between 2018 and 2019.
The former national security adviser, who had previously held the role of United Nations ambassador during former President George W. Bush’s tenure, called out Trump’s statements about the “termination” of parts of the Constitution to allow him to resume his role in the White House.
In a Truth Social post on Friday (December 2), Trump claimed the extent of fraud in the 2020 general election “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Bolton said he wanted to see “Sherman-esque statements” in response to Trump’s remarks from potential GOP 2024 candidates. Bolton noted that if he didn’t see potential candidates denouncing Trump’s statements about the Constitution, he would “seriously consider getting in” to the 2024 White House race.
