Former President Donald Trump is again suggesting he would try to prosecute his political opponents if he’s elected to a second term as he rails against his criminal conviction in New York.
“Look, when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them, and it would be easy because it’s Joe Biden,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday when pressed on whether he would use the justice system to go after his political opponents.
“It’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, and it’s very possible that it’s going to have to happen to them,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday.
Trump faces the possibility of a prison sentence after he was convicted last week on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler, in a statement responding to Trump’s interview with Hannity, said, “America saw Donald Trump consumed by rage and visibly rattled following his felony conviction; a man who has clearly snapped and whose candidacy is becoming more dangerous by the day. Donald Trump is so consumed with personal grievance that he does not care who he hurts so long as Donald Trump benefits.”
But Trump’s suggestions of potentially going after political opponents by weaponizing the Justice Department began more than a year ago, when he was first indicted. He has said he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family if he wins a second term and has argued several times he believes he is justified in doing so because Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee criminal investigations that implicate Trump.
“It’s a very terrible thing. It’s a terrible precedent for our country. Does that mean the next president does it to them? That’s really the question,” he told Newsmax.
The former president still faces charges in three other criminal cases against him, and he has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump, who has repeatedly called for the imprisonment of his 2016 Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton despite her never being charged with a crime, also said Tuesday that he thought it would have been a “terrible thing” if Clinton went to jail. Trump recently falsely claimed in an interview with Fox News that he didn’t call to lock up Clinton.
“I got a lot of credit from a lot of people, and some people said I should have done it, but, you know, could have, would have been very easy to do it, but I thought it would be a terrible precedent for our country,” Trump said.
Trump continued, “Wouldn’t it be terrible to throw the president’s wife and the former secretary of state, think of it, the former secretary of state, but the president’s wife, into jail. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing, but they want to do it.”
While Trump’s advisers continue to downplay the idea of Trump being sentenced to prison in the wake of his conviction, the former president is telling allies he thinks he could be put behind bars.
Trump’s sentencing hearing has been set for July 11 after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records last week. Prosecutors accused Trump of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included concealing a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s sentence is up to Judge Juan Merchan, and it could include prison time or probation.
Trump has told multiple people in recent days that he believes it’s a possibility that he could go to prison and that he’s “OK” with it, according to two sources briefed on the conversations.
His lawyers have indicated they believe they have a strong argument against prison given Trump’s age, lack of a criminal record, and contributions to the community.
“We are not planning for him to go to prison,” one campaign adviser insisted to CNN.
Earlier this week, Republican National Committee co-chair Michael Whatley said the party was preparing for a scenario in which Trump addressed the Republican National Convention from prison. The convention is slated to kick off on July 15 in Milwaukee, just four days after Trump’s scheduled sentencing date.
“We’re working on that right now,” Whatley told Newsmax. “I’m actually going up to Milwaukee this week and we’re going to have a series of conversations. But look, we expect that Donald Trump is going to be in Milwaukee and he’s going to be able to accept that nomination. And if not, we will make whatever contingency planning we need to make for it.”
Trump’s allies were unhappy with the framing of Whatley’s remarks, two sources told CNN.
The former president’s first campaign event since his conviction is expected to take place Thursday in Phoenix. He will be participating in a town hall hosted by the right-wing nonprofit Turning Point Action.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.
