Thursday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Angus King (I-ME) reacted to the terrorist attack in New York City that killed eight people and President Donald Trump having said the United States’ criminal justice system was “a laughingstock” and calling suspects to be given the death penalty if found guilty.

King accused Trump of making an effort to “get rid” of the Constitution and constitutional rights.

King said, “A lot of it is just him. I think it just comes out. I think you’re overthinking it in terms of strategy and political strategy. He just comes out with what’s on the top of his head. And I think that’s the way he feels. I’ve got to say, he said a lot of things that bother a lot of people. And it bothered me, frankly over the last eight months. The idea of our criminal justice system being a joke and a laughingstock, you know, that is the FBI, it’s our U.S attorneys, judges, juries. That was just corrosive of understanding and support for the system, which is what we are supposed to be fighting for.”

He continued, “What we’re talking about here is the Constitution, and it’s not a pesky annoyance. It’s who we are. It’s what we fight for. It’s what the flag symbolizes. In effect, what he’s saying is—that pesky Constitution, and those constitutional rights, you know, we’ve got to get rid of them. That is just corrosive, and it undermines public respect for institutions generally, and I think that’s what bothers me.”

He added, “He is giving permission for an amount of people to say similar things or think similar things. It kind of opens the door. In my view, a president ought to be defending our institutions and talking about imperfections, if there are things in the justice system that we could improve. But that is a far cry from saying our criminal system and judicial system is a laughingstock. It doesn’t get us anywhere in terms of the unity and the ability of our country to deal with these kinds of problems.”

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