Former US President Donald Trump has vowed to lock up his political enemies when he regains power in the upcoming presidential election.
Trump joined controversial radio host Glenn Beck for an interview on Tuesday and was asked if he would use the office of the president to jail his political opponents – as he promised to do in 2016.
The host asked him if he regretted not locking [Hillary Clinton] up and whether if he were president again, would he lock people up? “Well, the answer is you have no choice because they’re doing it to us,” Trump replied, making clear he would.
He encouraged the “lock her up” chant against the other opponents.
However, Trump remains in considerable danger of being locked up himself.
Under four indictments former President faced 91 criminal charges related to election subversion, retention of classified information and hush-money payment to adult film stars.
Trump denied wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of political persecution. Trials are scheduled for next year.
A US website Politico calculated that Trump faces a maximum of 641 years in jail. After the addition of 13 racketeering and conspiracy charges in Georgia, Forbes upped the total by more than 717 years.
However, both online magazines noted that former president was unlikely to receive maximum sentences.
Conviction would not bar Trump from running for president or being elected. On that score, Trump dominates national and key state polling regarding this Republican presidential nomination.
In an interview on BlazeTV, Trump said that while in office he never hit Biden as hard as he could have.
Trump’s first impeachment concerned attempts to find dirt on rivals including Biden, related to politics and business in Ukraine. Now, Trump’s Republican allies are threatening to impeach Biden over allegations connected to his surviving son, Hunter.
Trump claimed that Biden was behind his indictments. In fact, all have been brought by prosecutors independent of the White House: 44 by the Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, 34 by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and 13 by Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia.
Trump also claimed, “The woman that I never met, that they accused me of rape, that’s being run by a Democrat, a Democrat operative, and paid for by the Democrat [sic] party”.
That was a reference to civil claims brought by E Jean Carroll, a writer who said Trump sexually assaulted her in New York in 1990.
Previously, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and fined about $5m.
However, a second trial is due next year. The judge in the case has said Trump has been adjudicated a rapist.
