Trump has frequently threatened “retaliation” if he were to return to the White House. Now he explained: Then he won’t become a dictator – “apart from the first day.” Trump wants to destroy democracy, warned Biden.
According to his own words, former US President Donald Trump will not become a dictator if he is re-elected – except on the first day of his term in office. “No. No. Apart from the first day,” Trump answered at a Fox News event when asked whether he would become a “dictator” if he won the election in November. He would use his presidential powers on “day one” to close the border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.
During the televised event, Trump had to be asked twice to deny that he would abuse his power to avenge political opponents if he returned to the White House.
Warnings from many sides
Trump is seeking a second term as US president and could run again against incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden. He has frequently threatened his political opponents with “retaliation” if he comes to power again.
Immediately after the event, Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said: “Donald Trump has told us exactly what he will do if he is re-elected, and tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one. Americans should believe him.”
Biden has repeatedly warned that Trump is a threat to democracy and that a second Trump term could usher in an unprecedented and dangerous era of American autocracy.
Warnings are also coming from the Republican side: Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who has openly criticized Trump and led the investigation into the Capitol attack, said this week that a Trump dictatorship was a “very real threat” if he wins re-election.
Biden is running – because of Trump
Meanwhile, Biden explained that his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election is also related to Trump’s candidacy. “I’m not sure I would even run if Trump wasn’t running,” the 81-year-old said at a campaign fundraising event. “We can’t let him win,” emphasized Biden.
American democracy is at stake in the 2024 election. Because Trump and his supporters are out to “destroy” democratic institutions, Biden warned.
“Retaliation” and “Vermin”
During the election campaign, Trump described himself as his supporters’ “retribution” incarnate and, with a view to his political opponents, vowed to eradicate “vermin” from the country if he returned to the White House, the president said.
In addition, his predecessor was the “only defeated candidate” in US history who did not recognize the results of an election. When Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he followed the events on television in the dining room next to the Oval Office and “watched as they threatened his own vice president,” Biden said.
Trump’s deputy Mike Pence, in his role as Senate President at the time, oversaw the certification of Biden’s election victory in Congress that day.
Trump seeks revenge
The US president praised the “powerful voice” of former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who warned that the US would “sleepwalk into a dictatorship” if Trump returned to the White House.
Trump was defeated by Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but to this day refuses to admit his defeat and spreads the lie of election fraud. As a result, he has to answer in court in several criminal cases – a first in US history.
Last year he even called for the constitution to be undermined on the social media platform he co-founded. He wrote: “A massive fraud of this nature and magnitude allows the repeal of all rules, regulations and articles, including those in the Constitution.”
Worry about old age
Trump leads the field of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination by a wide margin in internal party polls.
Given Biden’s age, there are increasing doubts about his fitness among the US population, surveys show. The president recently turned 81 years old, his possible opponent Trump is 77 years old. His nomination as the Democratic candidate is still considered secure.
A new president will be elected in the USA on November 5, 2024.