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Donald J. Trump’s campaign, marked by apocalyptic extremes, took a darker turn in its final days.
Voting has already begun in battleground states, and the former president on Friday stepped up his threat to prosecute and jail a wide range of people involved in elections and politics. Hours later, on the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said that the term “enemy within,” which he has been using to describe his political opponents, poses a greater threat to the nation than North Korea. He said he is doing so.
For eight years, Democrats have warned that Mr. Trump’s political ambitions are fueling some of the nation’s deepest divisions. But now, as he runs for president for a third time, those concerns have metastasized into fears that Trump’s reelection could threaten the founding principles of our republic. As the campaign nears its final stages, a number of people who know him well, including military leaders and former administration officials, have warned Trump, who has almost assured his victory, that: If given the chance, he would rule as a dictator.
Republicans say such concerns are overdone. But Vice President Kamala Harris has grown increasingly wary of Trump, with her jovial tone early on the campaign suggesting that Trump will rule as an authoritarian, and that Trump will continue to support core American freedoms such as women’s rights. The government has now issued a stern warning that it will suppress what it advocates. Aborting a life-threatening pregnancy. There are also suggestions that Trump’s dark promises are influencing the political choices of business leaders and the media they own.
For Trump, the personal stakes go beyond what polls show is a close race. The former president aims not only to run for the White House, but to remain a free man. If he loses, there is a good chance he will be sentenced to prison.
This left voters facing tough choices about the country’s democracy — choices that have never before been litigated in a U.S. presidential election.
Trump said in a post on his social media site Friday that those who “fraud” the election face “long prison terms” and that “they will be searched, caught and prosecuted at some level. “Unfortunately, that will never happen.” We have seen it before in our country. ” The wording was almost the same as the September post. But with less than two weeks until Election Day, his words have taken on new resonance.
Trump has insisted he meant what he said, even when some allies have tried to downplay it. This month, he threatened to use military force against liberal politicians and activists, declaring them “enemies within”, alarming democracy experts. Trump used similar language in a three-hour interview with Logan on Friday. Mr. Rogan has 14.5 million followers on Spotify and 17.6 million followers on YouTube, many of them young people the Republican camp is hoping to cultivate.
When asked about the comments in a friendly interview on Fox News, Trump insisted they were “accurate” and cited two prominent California Democrats, Rep. Adam Schiff and Trump, as examples of what he considers his enemies. Named former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In his interview with Logan, he reiterated those words, saying the “enemy within” poses a greater threat to the nation than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
And on Sunday, he plans to host a rally at Madison Square Garden, where prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, will talk about the pro-America rally in support of Adolf Hitler, which took place there in 1939. ” will be compared. Democrats and even some Republicans reportedly praised Hitler, the Nazi leader responsible for the systematic murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others, as “doing good.” is attacking.
“She said it was like the 1930s,” Trump said Friday night, referring to Clinton’s remarks at a rally in northern Michigan. “No, it’s not. This is called ‘Make America Great Again.'”
One of Trump’s political allies has also suggested that the Republican-controlled North Carolina state legislature is considering allocating the state’s electors to the former president before votes are counted in the wake of Hurricane Helen. This added to the dark atmosphere.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, later retracted his comments, saying the “theoretical conversation was taken out of context.”
Trump’s pledge to punish his political opponents for election fraud is based on his continued claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, charges that have been repeatedly investigated and found to be false. I am doing it.
In a town hall appearance on CNN on Wednesday, Harris suggested that Trump would become “a dictator-praising, fascist president of the United States.” He said former chief of staff John Kelly’s comments that Trump meets the definition of a fascist and would rule like a dictator if allowed were tantamount to a “911 call to the American people.” Ta.
This week, top party surrogates poured into battleground states to promote that message.
Former President Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday, warning that Trump would not have aides in place to thwart extrajudicial plans in his second administration.-Obama Like Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who he described as “serious leaders,” also warned about the former president and Mr. Kelly.
“There is no need for a wannabe king to run around for four years trying to punish his enemies,” Obama said.
Among those who are sounding the alarm on Trump are many Republicans who currently support Harris. Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney suggested that Trump could destroy American democracy.
“As Americans, we’re used to thinking, ‘We don’t have to worry about that here,'” Cheney said Monday outside Philadelphia. “But as someone who has seen firsthand how quickly that can happen, I’ll say it again: That’s what’s on the ballot.”
Sean Riley, the Republican mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin, also supported Harris, telling the New York Times that Trump’s election could lead the country “down a path to authoritarianism and fascism.”
Republicans and former administration officials who have publicly opposed Trump also say they are taking his recent comments seriously. Many fear for their safety and possible prosecution. Some are considering ways to leave the country if he wins the election.
“My family and I have been talking about what this means for our security,” said the former Vice President Mike Pence, who served as homeland security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence before becoming a prominent surrogate for the Harris campaign. Olivia Troy said. “Trump’s rhetoric and words have real-world consequences.”
Whatever action Mr. Trump ultimately takes against those he considers his enemies if elected, it is clear that the former president will closely track and memorize both his vocal supporters and detractors. is. During his time as president, he demanded and frequently obtained investigations of those he considered his enemies. He often refers to people by name on social media and at rallies, an instinct reminiscent of 19th-century political bosses who differentiated between those who would cooperate with them and those who would not. is. And when someone or something gets under his skin, he reveals it and shapes his behavior towards them.
On Friday in Austin, Texas, Trump slammed The Atlantic, which first reported on his claims that he wanted a general like Hitler, going out of his way to point out that the magazine was “run by a guy named Goldberg.” . It was a direct anti-Semitic dog whistle attack on the magazine’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg.
He later mentioned Mr. Goldberg again, before saying, “They are evil people and a threat to democracy.”
Beyond the campaign, there are signs that Trump’s comments may be having a chilling effect on business leaders and the media they own.
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times announced they would not endorse him in the presidential election, breaking with longstanding tradition. Their decision sparked speculation that the publication’s billionaire owners were trying to curry favor with Mr. Trump.
Additionally, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who is usually outspoken about her political views, said people familiar with Harris said Trump would oppose her bid. He said he had kept his support for Harris secret because he feared he could retaliate against businesses or people. thought.
Trump has never denied threatening political opponents, but he has denied making positive comments about Hitler. Instead, he deployed the well-worn strategy of matching his opponents’ accusations with his own.
On Wednesday, Ms. Harris addressed reporters at her official residence and claimed that Mr. Trump had said when he was president that he wanted a general like Hitler.
“It is deeply disturbing and extremely dangerous that President Donald Trump would summon Adolf Hitler, who is responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Harris said. said.
Trump then accused Harris of directly comparing her to Hitler, which she did not, but the Trump campaign released a roughly 90-second video featuring a Holocaust survivor demanding an apology from Harris. A video was released.
“She owes my parents and others who were killed by Hitler an apology,” 94-year-old survivor Jerry Wartzky said in the ad.
The dark mood spread to a rally organized by the Harris campaign in Houston on Friday, where 30,000 people cheered for country music star Willie Nelson and global prodigy Beyoncé.
Traditionally, megawatt appearances like this are used to set a celebratory mood for a campaign and energize supporters. But this year, a dark fear of Democrats spread from stage to stadium.
“I know a lot of people are here because of Beyoncé,” Wayne Ashley, 42, said as he waited in an hour-long line to get into the stadium. “I’m here because I don’t support authoritarianism.”
Rally attendees heard singer Kelly Rowland decry America’s rampant misogyny and racism, and heard stories of women who have faced dire health problems as a result of abortion bans in conservative states. I listened to the tragic stories.
In speech after speech, they cast the election as a matter of life and death for millions of women living in conservative states where abortion is restricted or banned.
Amanda Zulawski, who nearly died after being denied a timely miscarriage, said she developed a life-threatening infection after doctors waited to remove a non-viable fetus.
“In that dark, lonely hospital room, I realized how lucky I was,” Zulkowski told the packed arena. “I was alive. Others aren’t.”
J. David Goodman reported from Houston and Neil Vigder from Traverse City, Michigan.
