Republican Brendan Buck, a former advisor to two speakers of the House, noted on Monday that the GOP response to President Donald Trump's claim he doesn't know if he has to follow the Constitution will likely be to hide and stay as quiet as possible.
Trump spoke with NBC News' Kristen Welker for an extensive interview that aired on Sunday. It ultimately turned into a civics conversation.
“Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Welker asked.
Trump responded, “I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”
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MSNBC host Ana Cabrera asked Buck whether this comment from Trump would "raise any alarm bells with Republicans."
Buck began saying that this isn't the first time Trump has made a comment like that.
"And he's gotten a pass every time. I think this was a very clarifying interview," Buck continued. "Usually, it is table stakes for anybody elected to federal office, even Congress, but certainly you would hope the president, who appreciates what makes America special — our system of government, the checks and balances, the Constitution. Those things are central and revered by most people who end up in Washington in positions of power. Donald Trump has a very different view on all of this."
Buck added that Trump views the presidency through what it can "provide him," rather than public service to Americans.
"He views the presidency simply through the central power that it can provide him," Buck said. "And his worldview is, you know, we all try to psychoanalyze Donald Trump, his worldview is pretty simple. If you're for Donald Trump, you're good. If you are critical of Donald Trump, you're bad. We saw that in Charlottesville with the rally there. We saw that on Jan. 6th, anything goes if you're for Trump."
The difference now, Buck said, is that Trump has "systems around him where people are willing to allow him to go after people, where maybe in his first term, there were people guarding him against those things. And so, it just — it's always been Donald Trump, but now people are aligned to help him figure out how to get around those balances of power. And the division of power that we have in our government."
See the clip below or at the link here.