Former President Trump told his supporters earlier this year he would be their “retribution” if reelected.
He told supporters last week he would direct the Justice Department (DOJ) to investigate “every Marxist prosecutor in America.”
And Trump over the weekend vowed to “root out … the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
Trump’s own words have made increasingly clear how fixated he is on revenge and targeting his perceived enemies if he wins a second term in the White House next November. The former president has openly mused in recent days that his own indictment has “released the genie out of the box” and would allow him to weaponize the government against his opponents.
His comments have raised alarms among critics, some of whom fear a second Trump administration will lack some of the guardrails that existed during his first four years in office.
“His policies are not centered around improving the lives of his supporters or Americans in general, it’s centered around consolidating power for Trump, and that way he can wield it to enact that revenge on anyone he deems as an enemy,” said Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House and campaign press aide who resigned over the Jan. 6 riots.
“And that is what is scary, and I wish that was penetrating through more in the minds of voters,” Matthews added.
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Multiple reports in recent weeks from The New York Times and Washington Post have detailed how outside conservative groups and longtime Trump allies are laying the groundwork for a second Trump term, including through the appointment of attorneys and personnel who would be willing to push through controversial aspects of Trump’s agenda.
The Post reported Trump has cited individuals he wants to investigate, and his associates have drafted plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act to help quell protests against him.
The Trump campaign has pushed back on reports about the former president’s plans for a second term.
“These reports about personnel and policies that are specific to a second Trump Administration are purely speculative and theoretical. Any personnel lists, policy agendas, or government plans published anywhere are merely suggestions,” senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement.
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Experts and former Trump administration officials turned critics have raised alarms that the former president could be less constrained in a second term, when the government could be filled with appointees more willing to do his bidding and less inclined to push back on his impulses.
“The constraints to the extent they existed during the first term, those constraints would be less robust and maybe far less robust. And that’s a major worry,” said Matt Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University.
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- Discussion
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Former President Trump signals he's out for revenge in second term.
He told supporters that he would direct the Justice Department to investigate "every Marxist prosecutor in America."https://t.co/2WohGIlmbj pic.twitter.com/0H1fCiK0fW
— The Hill (@thehill) November 16, 2023
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