Donald Trump on Tuesday promised “long prison sentences” for his political foes should he retake the White House with an election win.
Posting to Truth Social in his signature, rambling style, Trump wrote that he’d prosecute Democrats who participated in “rampant cheating and skullduggery” in the 2020 election.
“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long-term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” he wrote.
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Trump’s claim that there was mass voter fraud last election has long been disproven, and even Trump himself has recently admitted he was defeated.
Yet the former president has already begun sowing doubt on the legitimacy of this year’s election—seemingly setting up a potential second round of voter-fraud claims should Kamala Harris win the Electoral College on Nov. 5.
Trump’s Tuesday post was written in the style of a cease and desist letter, which are used by attorneys to direct someone to stop engaging in a particular activity. Trump wrote that the letter was addressed to “Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials.”
The former president didn’t single out any individuals in the post, but made clear that he intends to wield his presidential power to its fullest extent when it comes to prosecuting his foes.
“Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our country,” he wrote.
Trump made a similar post last week and has been speaking about voter fraud on the campaign trail this month. During a stop in Wisconsin, he claimed he was so popular he didn’t need to continue campaigning, but does so to have an election win that’s “too big to rig.”
“We gotta stop the cheating,” he told supporters. “If we stop that cheating, if we don’t let them cheat, I don’t even have to campaign anymore. We’re going to win by so much. In the meantime, too big to rig, too big to rig.”
