Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to investigate or prosecute political rivals, election workers and left-wing Americans if he becomes president again.

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris says that if Trump wins Tuesday’s presidential election, he will seek extreme and unchecked powers.

The enemy from within

Asked on Fox News last month whether he expected chaos on Election Day, Trump responded that the bigger problem was “the enemy from within.“ “We have some sick people, radical left lunatics … and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”

Trump, of course, will have no power to call out the military on Election Day, but his comments have alarmed critics, who say they suggest he views the armed forces as a potential weapon against opponents if he returns to the White House.

Trump repeated the term “the enemy from within” during an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan , saying they were more worrisome than Kim Jong Un, leader of nuclear-armed North Korea.

Republican presidential candidate has called for investigations into Kamala, President Biden, ex-president Barack Obama and Liz Cheney

Political adversaries

Trump has called for investigations into Harris, President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Liz Cheney, a former US representative who is one of the most high-profile Republicans to turn against Trump.

At a September rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said Vice President Harris was responsible for the “biggest crime story of our time,” referring to illegal border crossings. “She should be impeached and prosecuted for her actions,” Trump said.

Trump has also shared posts on his Truth Social media platform calling for military tribunals to try Cheney and Obama.

Election workers

On Oct 25, Trump threatened an array of people with unprecedented levels of prosecution for potentially cheating on Tuesday. “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” he added. Trump and his allies have been laying the groundwork to contest a potential loss in November by stoking doubts about the election’s legitimacy.

Trump has portrayed Democrats as cheaters, called mail-in ballots corrupt and urged supporters to vote in such large numbers to render the election “too big to rig.” Trump says he was the victim of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, despite courts, state governments and members of his own former administration rejecting his claims.

Protesters

Following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the US this year, Trump told Fox News in July that anyone who desecrates the American flag should get a one-year jail sentence.

“Now, people will say: ‘Oh it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people who say that,” Trump said, adding that he wants to work with Congress to allow the jail sentences. Trump has also said he would ban refugee resettlement from “terror-infested” areas such as Gaza and arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism, an apparent reference to the college student protesters.

Tech sector

Trump has also warned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google over what he claims is potential election interference on their tech platforms. Trump has accused Meta of suppressing content that would have hurt Biden in the 2020 election, and has also criticized Zuckerberg’s donations to bolster election infrastructure.

“We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison,” Trump wrote his recently published Save America coffee table book, according to media reviews of the book.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024