“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,” Donald Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday when pressed on whether he would use the justice system to go after his political opponents. Speaking to Newsmax on Tuesday, Trump said, “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.”
In just two days, in two separate interviews, Trump confirmed what many fear: going after his political opponents. After the New York hush-money guilty verdict, almost every single Republican supporting the former president attacked the Biden administration, accusing it of “weaponization of the Department of Justice” and using political power to influence the case. The former president and his allies have ramped up their retribution against his political enemies’ rhetoric since Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges last week.
Texas Rep. sends warning to Judge Merchan
Juan Merchan, the New York judge overseeing Trump’s hush-money case, has become Republicans’ number one enemy since the start of the trial. Despite facing a lot of pressure from prominent political figures, legal experts agree that Judge Merchan handled the trial professionally. By imposing a gag order, Merchan managed to stop Trump from attacking everyone involved in the process, but attacks from Republicans continued during the trial.
Earlier this week, Texas Senator John Cornyn sent yet another warning to Judge Merchan regarding Trump’s sentencing, set to take place on July 11. Cornyn, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that jailing Trump or confining him to his home would constitute a “further abuse of power.”
“I’m very troubled by what I see in the way the courts have been weaponized,” he said. “It used to be there were some institutions in America, namely the FBI, the Department of Justice and the courts, which were regarded as out of bounds for overt partisan politics, but unfortunately that’s changed, and not for the better.”
Now Democrats fear of political violence
Senate Democrats are concerned that former President Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges might lead to more violence after the 2024 election. They worry that if Trump, who criticizes the legal process as being misused against him, loses to President Biden, the situation could escalate. Their worries are growing as Trump’s sentencing on July 11 for the hush money trial approaches, a case where he was convicted for falsifying business records to hide payments to an adult film actor with whom he is alleged to have had an affair.
Trump has repeatedly cast doubt about the fairness of the election, and Democratic lawmakers who followed his trial in New York worry he will use whatever sentence is handed down to further inflame his loyal supporters.
“It is unclear, if [he] were to lose the election in November, whether he would peacefully tell his supporters, ‘Well, it was a great battle, but we just couldn’t pull it off,’” Sen. John Hickenlooper said, The Hill reported. “If you want to worry about hypotheticals.”
“He’s not making the kinds of overtures to his constituencies that suggest he’s going to go gently into that good night,” he said.
Read also: Trump’s popularity plummets according to first post-guilty verdict survey
Others think the same
A Democratic senator, who chose to remain unnamed while discussing the concerns of fellow senators, expressed that political violence now seems unavoidable. The senator mentioned that Democrats are worried Trump will stir his supporters into unrest, regardless of whether he is given probation or a prison sentence.
“For the long-term good of the country, he needs to be treated like anybody else, and then we’ll deal with it, because we’ll get his violence no matter what,” the senator said to The Hill, noting that Trump supporters have already tried to “dox” jurors. “We’re going to have to deal with the violence, sooner or later,” the senator predicted.
Republicans to the rescue
Republicans are looking to leverage their legislative authority and other resources to retaliate following the conviction of former President Donald Trump. Last week, a New York jury found him guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records related to concealing a hush money payment to an adult-film actress. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on “Fox News Sunday” that his party would use “our tools in Congress” to oversee the proceedings. Only a few Republicans have defended the legal process.
