Former President Donald Trump sought to turn the tables on concerns that his supporters may stoke chaos after the Nov. 5 election, countering that it’s the “radical left lunatics” who might get out of control.
Reflecting on the recently detained Afghan national who allegedly conspired to carry out an ISIS-inspired Election Day terror attack, Trump said he doesn’t expect Election Day chaos.
“No, I don’t think so, not from the side that votes for Trump,” the GOP presidential nominee told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Host Maria Bartiromo noted that President Biden, 81, publicly conceded he doesn’t know whether the election will be peaceful.
“He doesn’t have any idea what’s happening, in all fairness. He spends most of his day sleeping,” Trump, 78, shot back. “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country.”
“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the — and it should be very easily handled by — if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he added.
Scores of Democrats have openly fretted about a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021 ransacking of the Capitol during the aftermath of Trump’s election loss. The Department of Homeland Security has designated Jan. 6, 2025, a National Special Security Event as a precaution.
During another portion of the pre-taped interview, Trump contended that the “enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.”
He cited Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) as an example, and specified that “I call him the enemy from within.” Schiff served as an impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment and the former president has long seethed at the Golden State Democrat.
Trump further stressed that a “smart” president could defeat foreign adversaries “pretty easily,” but claimed that the “enemy from within” is much harder to fight.
Those comments drew a swift rebuke from the Harris-Walz campaign.
“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,” campaign spokesperson and senior advisor Ian Sams said in a statement.
“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.”
Trump had joked that he wouldn’t be a dictator “except for Day One” during a town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity late last year.
The 45th president also expressed some doubts that votes will be “accurately cast and counted.” Trump has long trafficked in dubious claims about the 2020 election.
“I don’t feel confident,” Trump said. “When you have mail-in voting — Jimmy Carter had a commission it. Nobody does mail-in voting. Now, you look at other countries. France, they go to paper ballots.”
Former President Jimmy Carter had led the Commission on Federal Election Reform in the wake of election concerns following the 2000 contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
At the same time, Trump stressed that he doesn’t want to discourage his voters from casting their ballots early.
“No, I don’t. Look, we have to win the election. No, we have to really fix this whole thing, because you need borders,” he said, when asked.
