Natelson Slams Trump for ‘Outrageous’ Constitution Comment
Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Former University of Montana Law Professor Rob Natelson, who now heads the Constitutional Studies Center at the Independence Institute in Denver, took former President Donald Trump to task on Monday for a comment he made regarding the U.S. Constitution and the 2020 election, calling it ‘outrageous’.
Natelson said Trump's Comment was 'Outrageous'.
“I've seen the quotation,” began Natelson. “I mean, basically he was saying that the mess of the 2020 election, and as you know, I'm no apologist for the 2020 election, but he was saying that the results of the 2020 election were such that we may have to suspend some rules including constitutional rules. I'm sorry, that's an outrageous statement, and it's going to disqualify him in the eyes of many of his supporters who believe he did good things when he was in office, but also were strong supporters of the Constitution.”
Natelson said Trump’s comment drew the type of negative attention it deserved.
Natelson said Trump's Impulsiveness Often Creates Trouble for his Supporters
“No presidential candidate should ever make a comment like that,” he said. “The Biden administration which has suffered from its own constitutional violations was very quick to jump on it as they should. That is not something to say, but it's an example of how former President Trump tends to be highly impulsive, and that gets him in trouble again and again and again.”
Natelson, who opposes mail-in ballots and says absentee voting should be solely for military personnel serving overseas, believes that in-person voting at a polling place should be mandatory, with only a few exceptions, in order to reduce the chance of voter fraud.
“The vast majority of the people can get to the polls, and my own view, frankly, is not quite as democratic as yours, Peter,” he said. “I think if somebody can't be bothered to get to the polls, that person probably shouldn't be voting. Now for those people who are genuinely disabled, shut in because they're elderly or whatever, then we should deal with that on an exception basis, either with absentee ballots or proxy voting, or some mechanism like that.”
Natelson said 'Making it Easier to Vote' can Lead to Voter Fraud
The argument for easy access to absentee ballots is that forcing people to the polling place can deny some people groups the opportunity to cast their vote, however, Natelson disagrees, saying voting is a constitutional right, and that ‘making it easier to vote’ can open the door for possible voter fraud.
“You don't make rules from exceptions,” he said. “You make rules for the generality of people, and then you address the exceptions. Let me give you an example in the area of abortion. Somebody will say, ‘Well, you know, I think that abortion should generally be illegal’. And the response to that is, ‘Well, what about the poor single woman who was now having her 15th kid, and that child is going to have Down syndrome? And she's got no way of supporting the child; what about her?’ Well, that's an exception. You don't make the rule for the exception. You make the rule for the generality, and then you deal with the exceptions.”
Natelson appears on the first Monday of every month to answer questions from KGVO listeners and website readers. Click here to listen to the entire conversation with Rob Natelson.