Bolton brushes off notion Trump’s a ‘threat’ to democracy: ‘We’ve survived a lot worse’

Former national security adviser John Bolton dismissed claims that former President Trump is a “threat” to democracy and emphasized that the U.S. Constitution will withstand him.

Bolton reacted Wednesday to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) saying she will vote for Vice President Harris because Trump is a “danger” to the Constitution.

“And I don’t agree with the idea that somehow the Constitution is such a piece of weak paper that Donald Trump is a threat to it. Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage if he is elected in a second term. He is not an existential threat to American democracy. If you really think that, you must think this country isn’t worth much,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” 

“Because, we’ve gone 235 years with this Constitution. We’ve survived a lot worse than Donald Trump. And this kind of comment undercuts those who are trying to see Trump put in this place,” he added.

Cheney said Wednesday that “as a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.” 

She has frequently criticized the former president as someone who “threatens to unravel our Republic” and is not “fit to serve.”

Bolton also emphasized he would not vote for someone with whom he has key disagreements.

He said Cheney’s choice does not influence his decision to write in her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, for president, which he said in April he would do. And he pushed back on Liz Cheney’s comments that it was a “luxury” to write in a candidate.  

“It’s not a luxury to be able to write in somebody other than the two major party candidates. It’s important. It’s a protest vote. I understand my vote will not elect a president that has no chance to. But in Maryland, where I live, I have no chance to affect the Electoral College outcome there anyway,” he said.

“And I am not going to vote for anybody with whom I have a principled disagreement, or think they’re not fit to be president. It’s a sad commentary, on our political process, that we’ve got two such inadequate candidates now,” he added.