Already accustomed to invectives and thunderous outings, Donald Trump has for several months adopted increasingly violent rhetoric which gives a glimpse of what a new mandate for the Republican could look like, in the event of victory.
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The ex-president, who triumphed Monday evening in the right-wing primary in Iowa, does not hide it: he is driven by a spirit of revenge and if he makes his grand return to the Oval Office after a victory in November, he intends to attack his detractors.
“In 2016, I said: I embody your voice. Today I add that I am your warrior. I am your justice,” said in March to his supporters the one who always repeats, without the slightest proof, that the 2020 election was fraudulent and was “stolen” from him.
“And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your revenge,” he added.
AFP
A few months later, he clarified his intentions.
“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to prosecute the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family,” he said in June.
- Listen to the interview with Guillaume Lavoie, associate member of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair on Alexandre Dubé’s show via QUB radio :
“I will completely destroy the deep state”, a nebulous entity which according to the former president acts behind the scenes of the government.
Prosecuted in numerous cases, he claims to be the victim of political persecution, accusing his Democratic opponent of being in action to prevent him from becoming president again.
AFP
“Vermin”
His opponents urge to take his words seriously, recalling that Mr. Trump’s first term ended with an assault on the Capitol by hundreds of his supporters trying to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The ex-president describes the people imprisoned after the attack of January 6, 2021 as “hostages” and said he was considering pardoning “many” of them.
In December 2022, he argued on his Truth Social network that the “fraud” of 2020 made it possible “to put an end to all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution”, triggering an outcry.
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Most recently, in November, he promised to “eradicate the communists, Marxists, fascists and radical left thugs who live like vermin in our country.”
To Joe Biden’s campaign team, which accused him of “imitating” Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini with these remarks, one of his spokespersons responded that it was “ridiculous”. Before adding: “Those who make this type of insinuation (…) will see their little world collapse when President Trump returns to the White House”…
“Muslim ban”, taxes and diplomacy
On migrants, one of his favorite targets, Donald Trump also moved up a gear, accusing them of “poisoning the blood of our country”. Joe Biden denounced this terminology, saying his rival was using the rhetoric of “Nazi Germany”.
The business magnate also assured that he intended, on the first day of his new mandate, to sign a decree to cancel the right to automatic soil for children born to irregular migrants.
He also said he planned to carry out “the largest domestic expulsion operation” of migrants in the history of the United States, and committed to reinstating his controversial migration decree targeting Muslim countries, the famous “Muslim ban”.
- Listen to the judicial discussion and society and social networks with investigative journalist Annabelle Blais via QUB :
At the start of his mandate in 2017, he banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and, initially, also Iraq and Sudan).
“We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country,” he said in October. “I will also put in place strong ideological controls for all arriving migrants.”
Concerning the economy, Donald Trump notably indicated that he was considering imposing a tax of around 10% on almost all imports and ending the “most favored nation” clause granted to China to develop trade. bilateral.
On Ukraine, the Republican assured that he could end the conflict “in 24 hours” if he returned to power, without further details. All of his lieutenants in Congress are opposed to releasing more aid to kyiv.
And asked whether he would remain committed to NATO during his possible second term, he replied: “it depends on whether they treat us properly.”