Trump suggests deploying military against “enemies from within” on Election Day

CNN
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Former President Donald Trump suggested using the military to deal with what he called the “enemy from within” on Election Day, saying he feared chaos not from his supporters or foreign actors but from “radical leftists Crazy people.”

“I think the bigger problem is the people on the inside. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people. “Radical left-wing lunatics,” Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview with “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“I think it should be handled very easily by the National Guard if necessary or by the military if it's really necessary, because they can't let that happen,” he added.

The former president, whose supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 to thwart Congress' certification of his 2020 election defeat, downplayed any threat from his constituents.

“No, I don’t think so — not from the side that votes for Trump,” the former president said when Bartiromo asked if he expected chaos on Election Day. As she alluded to the Justice Department's arrest and indictment of an Afghan national for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in the U.S. on Election Day, citing the threat of “external agitators” and undocumented immigrants, Trump turned to talking about political opponents on the to speak on the left side.

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people who came into our country and destroyed our country. They have completely destroyed our country, the cities, the villages, they are being flooded,” he said. refers to immigrants whom Trump has repeatedly attacked with dehumanizing rhetoric.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign seized on Trump's comments, arguing they should “alarm every American.”

“Trump suggests that his fellow Americans are worse 'enemies' than foreign adversaries, and he says he would use the military against them,” Ian Sams, a senior campaign spokesman and adviser, said in a statement Sunday. “Given his vow to be a dictator on day one, calling for the 'termination' of the Constitution, and planning to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power when he returns to office, this should worry every American, who cares about his freedom and safety.”

The former president has denied any wrongdoing in the years since the Jan. 6 insurrection and sought to shift blame for the insurrection onto others, including Democrats, with a barrage of false claims, despite facing federal and state charges of interference in the 2020 elections will be impeached Washington, DC and Georgia. He pleaded not guilty in those cases.

Trump has also laid the groundwork for questioning the integrity of the 2024 election. If he wins the White House again, he faces criminal prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for election officials and political activists he believes might commit fraud. And he has regularly suggested that he would use the justice system as a weapon to target his political opponents if voters return him to the White House.

CNN's Jack Forrest, Sam Fossum, Marshall Cohen, Daniel Dale and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.