Trump’s Campaign Allegedly Plans Government Retaliation Against Critics
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is planning to use the federal government to punish his political opponents if he wins a second term next year, according to critics, including some prominent Republicans and even former staffers.
During the campaign, Trump made repeated public references to getting retribution on detractors and adversaries, including vowing to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” President Biden for various offenses. In a speech and a Truth Social post earlier this month, he referred to left-wing Americans as “vermin.”
According to historians, fascist dictators routinely deploy dehumanizing tactics against their political opponents. Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, responded, “Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”
According to the Washington Post, Trump has privately stated that he will urge the Department of Justice to investigate officials from his first term who have criticized his reign, including:
- Gen. John F. Kelly, a retired US Marine Corps general and former White House chief of staff,
- Former Attorney General, William P. Barr
- Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Mark A. Milley
- Former Trump White House Special Counsel Ty Cobb
Trump’s assists say he plans to remove tens of thousands of government officials and replace them with loyalists. He also plans to refuse to spend congressional funds on programs he doesn’t support.
- The New York Times reports that Trump’s proposals to crack down on illegal immigration will include:
- Using military cash to build detention facilities
- Using a public-health emergency provision to stop asylum petitions at the border.
- Ending birthright citizenship for newborns born in the United States to undocumented immigrants.
Trump also reportedly intends to send military forces into Mexico to confront drug gangs, with or without the Mexican government’s approval. Some prominent Republican elected officials, conservative legal professors, and veterans of Trump’s first year in office have stated that Trump’s goals would undermine the justice system and jeopardize the rule of law. Here are some of the most significant criticisms:
“He cannot be the next president because if he is, all of the things he attempted but was stopped from doing by responsible people surrounding him at the Department of Justice and the White House Counsel’s Office would be carried out.
There will be no railings. “His policies are not centered on improving the lives of his supporters or Americans in general; rather, they are centered on consolidating power for Trump, so that he can use it to exact revenge on anyone he considers an enemy.” And that is what is frightening.
“I am more concerned about America now than I was on January 6… “[Trump’s] election would be disastrous for American democracy.” “Neutrally making prosecution decisions is critical to democracy. The White House should not intervene in individual situations for political purposes.”
“He doesn’t consider policy implications while making judgments, especially in the national security realm. Everything revolves around how Donald Trump benefits from it. In a second Trump term, we’d almost probably leave NATO.” “Donald Trump symbolizes a failure of character, and I believe he is affecting our nation’s mentality and heart in many ways. And that is something that will take a long time, if ever, to fix.”