Donald Trump has called for U.S. troops to be turned against political opponents as voters go to the polls in next month’s presidential election, sparking an angry backlash from Democrats.
In comments that added fuel to fears of an authoritarian crackdown if he retakes the White House, the Republican candidate said he would not be able to “infiltrate” when the election is held on Nov. 5. He said the military or National Guard should be deployed against the enemy, whom he called a “new enemy.”
He blamed California Congressman Adam Schiff, who served as the lead prosecutor in the former president’s first impeachment trial, for free and fair elections over the usual targets of abuse, such as foreign terrorists and illegal immigrants. He called it a major threat.
President Trump’s comments on Fox News in response to a question about possible “disruption” of the election sparked an angry response from Kamala Harris’ camp, with Trump calling for dictatorship on “day one” of second term in office In response to a question about the possibility of “disruption” in the presidential election, he compared it to his previous statement that he would become the president. Suggests the U.S. Constitution should be abolished to overturn the 2020 election results, which he falsely claims were stolen by Joe Biden.
As Election Day approaches, the race between Mr. Trump and his vice president is a close one. Most national polls show Harris with a narrow lead, but the race is getting tighter in key battleground states that will determine the outcome of the election, giving Trump a number of potential paths to victory. .
President Trump initially said the election chaos did not come from his side, but when interviewer Maria Bartiromo brought up the possibility of outside agitators or immigrants committing crimes, Trump slandered his opponent. launched an attack.
“I think the bigger problem is the people inside. There are some very bad people. Some are sick,” he said on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures program.
“It could very easily be dealt with by the National Guard if necessary, or by the military if it was really necessary, because they can’t allow that to happen.”
At a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday night, Harris condemned Donald Trump’s comments and showed footage of him making the remarks.
“A second term for Trump is a great risk and a danger to America. Donald Trump is becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged,” Harris told the crowd after playing the clip.
Ruth Ben Guiat, a historian and fascism expert at New York University, emphasized to NBC what President Trump plans to do as president, and puts it in perspective for Viktor Orbán, Narendra Modi, and others. He said he compared it to the “strongman” governance template of Vladimir and others. President Putin, the leaders of Hungary, India and Russia, respectively.
“He’s actually, in a sense, rehearsing what he would do as a head of state. That’s what Orbán is doing, that’s what Mr. Modi is doing, and that’s what Putin has been doing for years.” she said.
President Trump took aim at Schiff, who is a candidate for the Senate in next month’s polls. He said, “It’s the lunatics among us, like Adam Schiff, that are difficult to deal with.”
The attack is the second in two days on Schiff, who during his time as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said there was evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia in the 2016 presidential election. and provoked animosity from Mr. Trump. The House of Representatives, under Republican leadership, subsequently voted to censure Schiff over his comments.
Trump mocked Schiff’s physical features Saturday at a rally in Coachella, Calif., a state where Trump has virtually no chance of winning, calling him a bigger threat than foreign adversaries, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was labeled as such.
“He (Xi) is someone we can deal with,” Trump said. “The worst ones are the enemies from within, the scumbags, the randy Adam Schiff who’s going to be elected to the Senate. He’s a pretty low-ranking guy.”
He claimed, without providing evidence, that Schiff was involved in massive voter fraud. “They send millions of ballots all over the world,” he said. “There’s no such thing as a polling place in California. They just take the ballots and send them all over the place. They come back and say, oh, somebody won by 5 million votes. .”
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Mr. Schiff said on Twitter/X that Mr. Trump incited violence in the same manner that was widely condemned on January 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the certification of Mr. Biden’s election victory. he accused.
“Today Trump threatened to send in the military against the ‘enemy from within,’ as he called me,” Schiff wrote.
“Just as he incited a mob to storm the Capitol, he has once again incited violence against those who oppose him.”
Harris’ campaign made a broader accusation. “Donald Trump has implied that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign enemies and that he intends to use the military against them,” campaign spokesman Ian Sams said. “I’m saying that,” he said.
“He vowed to become a dictator ‘on day one,’ demanded the ‘abolition’ of the Constitution, and planned to surround himself with sycophants who would give him unlimited and unprecedented powers if he returned to the presidency. “Their presence should alarm everyone.” Americans who value freedom and security.
“What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and allowing him back into office is an unacceptable risk to the American people.”
Although President Trump is out of office and in no position to deploy the military on Election Day, his calls for military force to quell political opposition are well known, and thousands of people died in 2020. recalled his request to send soldiers to the streets of Washington, D.C., to disperse the protests. Demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd.
Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly came close to resigning over this request.
Milley, who has since rebelled against President Trump, described the former president as “a complete and utter failure” in a new book by Bob Woodward, the journalist who, along with Carl Bernstein, helped expose the 1970s Watergate scandal. He has been quoted as calling him a fascist. He has expressed concern that he could be recalled and court-martialed if he returns to public office.
