Former President Donald Trump has made it clear that if re-elected, he would not be averse to arming law enforcement against those he considers his political enemies. Yet some of his supporters in the right-wing media are downplaying these threats, claiming Trump has no intention of punishing his rivals.
Take Fox News host Jesse Watters. On Thursday night, he said the story about Trump seeking revenge was a “hoax” perpetrated by President Joe Biden’s campaign.
“Trump didn’t say that would locking up his opponents, he said could beWatters said. “Because the Democrats opened a Pandora’s box when they did that to him. Could and would – two different things.”
Ahead of Trump’s interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, his former adviser Kellyanne Conway similarly blamed “lemmings in the mainstream media” for “the new narrative” that Trump wants revenge.
“He is the one who was visited, and if you need any proof, look no further than how he backed out of any form of persecution of Hillary Clinton and retaliation after he beat her fair and square” , she told Fox. News. (Trump recently claimed that he never called for Clinton’s prosecution, even though he often encouraged and joined in “lock her up” chants at his rallies in 2016 and afterward. According to the Mueller report, Trump also pressured his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to prosecute Clinton.)
The efforts to downplay Trump’s own words during the campaign do not withstand even a cursory assessment of his escalating rhetoric about revenge in recent days. Trump has vowed to prosecute Democrats and even some anti-Trump Republicans over a range of grievances if he wins the November election. Many MAGA lawmakers and experts have echoed these calls for retaliation, and his supporters have threatened violence against his so-called political enemies online.
Trump has also rebuffed attempts by friendly interviewers to create opportunities for him to roll back his threats; in an interview with Phil McGraw (aka Dr. Phil) that aired Thursday, Trump said, “Sometimes revenge can be justified.”
Astonishingly, McGraw told CNN later that day that he didn’t think Trump would actually act on his desire for revenge because of their interview. “This is something that I think he has in mind that there is only one way to do it, and that is to get revenge,” he said. “And I think I’ve actually made some progress with him that this is not the way to go.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
