Since his campaign kicked off with a promise of retribution, political observers have questioned whether a criminal conviction would motivate Donald Trump to prosecute his political rivals if he returns to the White House.
In the week since Trump became a twice-impeached convicted felon, those same analysts have had their questions answered: Donald Trump will seek revenge if he takes power next year.
In multiple interviews this week, Trump refused to commit to not prosecuting his political rivals and suggested that he’d be justified in seeking revenge during a second term in office.
In an interview with Fox & Friends on Sunday, when asked if he still thought success would be his revenge instead of weaponizing the justice system to prosecute Democrats, Trump said it was a “tough question” to answer because Democrats are “bad” and “sick” people.
On Tuesday, in an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly, Trump did little to hide his intentions for a second term, asking Kelly, “Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question.” Trump also suggested to Kelly that jailing his critics and political rivals was “very possible.”
The next day Trump told Sean Hannity, “Look, when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them. And it’s easy because it’s Joe Biden.”
In multiple interviews that aired on Thursday, Trump refused to abandon the idea of political retribution. Speaking with an ABC affiliate in Arizona, Trump made the argument that since he didn’t jail Hillary Clinton he’d be justified in prosecuting Democrats because, “the world is different now,” and responded to direct questions about jailing his rivals with, “I’ll talk to you in about three years from now.”
Finally, during a softball interview wherein Dr. Phil McGraw echoed Trump’s election conspiracies and complaints about his criminal trial, McGraw implored Trump — the twice-impeached criminal felon running for president — to rise above the desire to seek revenge. Given multiple opportunities to do so, Trump couldn’t bring himself to commit, saying, “Well, revenge does take time, I will say that. And sometimes revenge can be justified.”
“It’s not hard to explicitly say you won’t seek revenge when asked directly, but since becoming a twice-impeached convicted criminal Donald Trump has been obsessed with the idea. Even when one of his sycophant media allies like Sean Hannity or Dr. Phil lobs him a softball, Trump can’t resist his instincts or hide his desire for political retribution,” said American Bridge 21st Century’s Communications Director of Presidential Campaigns, Brandon Weathersby. “Not since January 6th has the threat Donald Trump poses to American democracy been so clear. If he returns to the White House his number one priority will be to rule as a dictator and finally live out his authoritarian fantasies of locking up his political enemies simply because the legal system did its job.”
Published: Jun 7, 2024 | Last Modified: Jun 21, 2024