Trump Wants the Military to Target Americans Who Oppose Him
Donald Trump has proposed a fascist plan to deploy military forces against U.S. citizens who oppose him on Election Day.
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” the former president told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo when she asked if he expects “chaos on Election Day” from immigrants. “We have some very bad people, some sick people, radical left lunatics…. And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1845469638768972272
Throughout his campaign, Trump has laid out a dystopian vision for America where the military uses violence to detain and deport immigrants, suppress protests, and target criminals. He has used fascistic, violent language and recently repeated his vow to be a “dictator” for “one day” if elected.
At a rally last year in Iowa, Trump promised to use federal forces to “get crime out of our cities.” He went on to say that Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco were “crime dens” run by Democrats. As Rolling Stone reported, during his time in the White House, Trump became enamored with the idea of using mass executions against gang members and drug kingpins.
The former president has also said he would send potentially “hundreds of thousands” of troops to close the southern border and construct immigrant detention camps. He has threatened to engage the military in mass deportations, which could trigger large public demonstrations.
“I expect massive civil disobedience, and then violence if Trump decides to suppress it using the military,” Michael Klarman, a Harvard law professor and an expert in executive power, told Rolling Stone last month.
In private emails from a Trump-aligned group obtained by The New York Times, supporters discussed the idea of using troops to “stop riots” by protesters.
“I would use certainly the National Guard, if the police were unable to stop” protests, Trump told Time magazine in April.
During his presidency, Trump proposed troops shoot protesters and undocumented immigrants.
The Insurrection Act of 1807 grants the president broad authority to use armed forces during emergencies to quell civil unrest. “It’s a huge blank check, it is easily subject to abuse, it’s easy to imagine abuse,” Harvard law professor and Presidential Reform Project leader Jack Goldsmith told NPR.
Responding to Trump’s comments, Harris-Walz 2024 Senior Spokesperson and Senior Adviser Ian Sams wrote in a statement, “Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them. 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.
“What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford,” the statement concluded.
Other Democrats — including Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Jamie Raskin — have been working to pass legislation that would reform the law and impose restrictions. But if Trump wins in November, it may already be too late.
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat told NBC News that Trump’s threats to curb dissent are “out of the autocratic playbook.”
“As autocrats consolidate their power once they’re in office, anything that threatens their power, or exposes their corruption, or releases information that’s harmful to them in any way becomes illegal,” Ben-Ghiat said.
“He’s actually rehearsing, in a sense, what he would be doing as head of state, which is what Orban does, Modi is doing, Putin has long done,” she added, naming the dictatorial leaders of Hungary, India and Russia, all of whom Trump has lavishly praised.
This story has been updated to include a statement from the Harris-Walz campaign.
More from Rolling Stone
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.