'Will absolutely make sure his enemies pay': Trump has made 100+ direct threats during 2024 campaign

22 October 2024

When Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump's running mate, defends Trump during his appearances on right-wing media outlets, he typically accuses Democrats and Never Trump conservatives of overreacting to things he says. Trump's critics, Vance argues, fail to appreciate his sense of humor and don't realize that he "speaks from the heart."

But Vice President Kamala Harris, on the campaign trail, has emphasized that when Trump praises authoritarians or threatens to jail political opponents, he needs to be taken seriously. And Harris likes to quote poet Maya Angelou's famous warning, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

In an article published on October 22, National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Tom Dreisbach demonstrates that Trump's threats to take revenge against political foes aren't merely off-the-cuff remarks he occasionally makes — they are part of a disturbing pattern.

Dreisbach, in fact, cites more than 100 examples of Trump making such threats during his 2024 campaign alone.

"With just two weeks remaining until the presidential election," Dreisbach explains, "former President Donald Trump has used his most recent appearances on podcast and cable interviews to escalate attacks on fellow Americans whom he calls 'the enemy from within.' In one recent interview, Trump said that if 'radical-left lunatics' disrupt the election, 'it should be very easily handled by — if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.'"

The NPR reporter continues, "That statement, on Fox News, was not the first time Trump has expressed support for using government force against domestic political rivals. Since 2022, when he began preparing for the presidential campaign, Trump has issued more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, imprison or otherwise punish his perceived opponents, NPR has found."

Dreisbach cites a variety of threats made by Trump, from saying that Harris "should be impeached and prosecuted" during a rally in September to saying, on a June 30 post on Truth Social, that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) is "guilty of treason" and should face "televised military tribunals." At a rally in January, Trump called for New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron to be "arrested and punished."

Moreover, Trump suggested that Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should face the death penalty for contacting Chinese officials after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building."

Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, one of the conservative Republicans who endorsed Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, told the program "This American Life" (which airs on some NPR stations) that she has seriously looked into moving to another country if Trump wins in November — as she fears retaliation from him. Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, and The Lincoln Project's Fred Wellman have said the same thing.

Grisham told NPR, "I absolutely think he will follow up on those threats. I just know that once he's in office with no guardrails, no reason to worry about reelection, and only the most fervent, loyal people surrounding him, he will absolutely make sure his enemies pay for what he perceives to be their crimes."

Read Tom Dreisbach's full NPR report at this link.

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