Trump doubles down on idea to use the military against US citizens who disagree with him
Former US president Donald Trump is not stepping away from his suggestion that America’s military should be deployed against its own citizens if they disagree with him, politically.
Mr Trump’s fascination with the idea is not exactly new – he allegedly wanted the military to “just shoot” and “beat the f***” out of Americans who were protesting against police brutality during his first term as president.
That is according to the testimony of both General Mark Milley, who was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the time, and Mark Esper, who was Mr Trump’s defence secretary.
“We reached that point in the conversation where he looked frankly at General Milley and said, ‘Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?’” Mr Esper wrote in his memoir afterwards. He was talking specifically about protests in Washington DC.
“It was a suggestion and a formal question. And we were just all taken aback at that moment, as this issue just hung very heavily in the air.”
Gen Milley and Mr Esper have both declined to endorse Mr Trump in 2024. Mr Esper is among the 40 of Mr Trump’s 44 cabinet secretaries, from his first term, in that camp.
In recent days, Mr Trump has taken the concept of deploying military forces for domestic political purposes a little further, perhaps.
The Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 did at least involve some rioting and other illegal conduct, which was dealt with by law enforcement, rather than the military.
Now the former president is suggesting the armed forces should intervene to stamp down “radical left” Americans. He alluded to it at a rally on Friday, local time, before going further in a subsequent interview.
“We have the greatest military in the world, but you have to know how to use them,” Mr Trump told his supporters at the rally.
“It’s the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia.”
One recalls a time when Mr Trump’s opponent in 2016, Hillary Clinton, referred to “half” of his fans as “deplorables” at a fundraiser, sparking howls of outrage. Mr Trump himself, at the time, said he was “deeply shocked and alarmed” by her language.
He now casually refers to his own political opponents as “scum” without raising so much as an eyebrow. How far we have come.
Mr Trump was a little more explicit during an interview, on Sunday, with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, who asked him about the threat of “outside agitators” on election day.
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” he said.
“Not even the people that have come in and are destroying our country - and by the way, totally destroying our country. The towns, the villages, they’re being inundated.
“But I don’t think they’re the problem in terms of election day. I think the bigger problem is the people from within. We have some very bad people, some sick people, radical left lunatics and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by (the) National Guard, or if necessary by the military.”
Mr Trump has been utilising the phrase “the enemy from within” more frequently lately. On Saturday, for example, he used it in reference to Adam Schiff, a Democratic congressman.
The campaign of Mr Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, accused Mr Trump of suggesting “his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries”.
“Taken with his vow to be a dictator on ‘day one’, calls for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, this should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security,” said campaign spokesman Ian Sams.
“What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford.”
A couple of those quotes require more context.
The one about Mr Trump allegedly wanting to be a “dictator” originates from a town hall event he attended with Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity, during which Mr Hannity sought to reassure viewers that the former president would not seek to “abuse” his executive power, if returned to office.
“Under no circumstances - you are promising America tonight - you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Mr Hannity asked during the televised town hall last year.
“Except for day one,” Mr Trump replied.
Mr Trump has spoken about the moment repeatedly since, accusing the news media and his political opponents of misrepresenting it.
“I said, ‘Sean, I only want to be a dictator for one day, and I’m going to close the borders and drill, baby drill.’ But after that, I never want to be a dictator,” he said at one rally.
The Harris campaign’s allegation that Mr Trump would “terminate” the US Constitution comes from a post he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, in 2022.
“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Mr Trump wrote at the time. Capitalisations his, not mine.
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.
“Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False and Fraudulent Elections!”
We are obliged to note that Mr Trump had every opportunity, in court, to contest the 2020 election result, and to provide evidence for his claims that widespread voter fraud robbed him of victory over Joe Biden. He never provided any such evidence, and none of the more than 60 lawsuits he brought went anywhere.
A parade of judges, including conservatives appointed by Mr Trump himself, berated the then-president’s legal team for making spurious claims.
You can read about some of those judgments in more detail here, should you wish.
In any case, Mr Trump’s talk about “terminating” elements of the Constitution was specifically about the election. The Harris campaign has sought to make his suggestion sound broader.
Mr Trump’s proposed use of the military against “radical left” Americans is, to put it lightly, awkward for more mainstream Republican politicians.
One of them is Glenn Youngkin, the Governor of Virginia and one-time contender to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, who today appeared on the CNN show The Lead.
“Is that something that you support?” anchor Jake Tapper asked Mr Youngkin, referring to Mr Trump’s remarks on Fox News.
Mr Youngkin sought to recharacterise Mr Trump’s meaning, plain though it seemed, arguing that he was actually talking about illegal immigrants.
“I guess what I want to just make very clear is that it’s my belief that what former president Trump is talking about are the people that are coming over the border,” he said.
“That in fact are committing crimes, that are bringing drugs, that are trafficking humans, and that are turning every state into a border state.”
“But that’s not what I’m talking about. Because he was talking about ‘sick people, radical left lunatics who should be handled by the National Guard or the military,’” Mr Tapper interjected, quoting Mr Trump directly.
“One of the lunatics he addressed was Congressman Adam Schiff. That’s who he was talking about using the National Guard and military against.”
Mr Youngkin began to answer: “Again, Jake, I don’t think that–”
“I’m just reading you his quote,” Mr Tapper said, jumping in again
“But I do think that you are misinterpreting and misrepresenting his thoughts,” Mr Youngkin insisted.
“I do believe, again, it’s all around the fact that we have had an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants come over the border in an unconstrained, unrestrained fashion.
“I don’t think that he’s referring to elected people in America.”
“I’m literally reading his quotes,” Mr Tapper countered.
“I’m literally reading his quotes to you, and I played them earlier so you could hear that they were not made up by me.”
Spare a thought for the Trump campaign’s TV surrogates. They’ve had a long decade.
