Published December 7, 2023
Former President Donald Trump is urging supporters to “guard the vote” during next year’s election, a phrase that has set off alarm bells among pro-democracy advocates who say it signals permission to take extreme measures that could intimidate voters and threaten election workers.
The phrase is a relatively novel one for Trump, though activists in the far-right movement have been setting the groundwork for it to be deployed more widely.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has spent months repeating the phrase in posts, speeches and interviews. And Victor Mellor, a close Flynn associate, told The Associated Press he has been setting up a new group called “Guard the Vote” ahead of the 2024 elections. Mellor provided AP a video that showed the group’s new “command center” in a Florida building that houses Flynn’s offices.
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: Trump’s ‘dictator’ remark jolts the 2024 campaign — and tests his GOP rivals on debate day
The former president’s remarks came on the eve of what may be the final GOP primary debate of the 2024 campaign.
Published December 6, 2023
Sean Hannity was trying to throw Donald Trump a life vest, and Trump was waving it off.
At a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, on the eve of what may be the final Republican primary debate of the campaign, the Fox News host asked the likely GOP nominee whether he had “any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power? To break the law? To use the government to go after people?”
Trump parried. Hannity probed. He again asked Trump whether he was indeed “promising America tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”
“Except for Day One,” Trump said.
Were Trump’s initial remarks a Trumpian jest? A threat? A promise?
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SOURCE: www.politico.com
RELATED: Republican candidates largely duck Trump attacks in final debate
Published December 6, 2023
The Republican candidates for president largely avoided criticising frontrunner Donald Trump in their final debate outing in Alabama.
For almost two hours, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy fended off moderators’ invitations to attack him.
Only ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addressed Mr Trump directly, saying he would use another term in office to persecute political rivals.
Mr Trump maintained his policy of non-attendance at the debate.
The former president has refused to take part in any of the preceding three contests and has consistently called on the Republican Party to cancel the bouts, insisting that no other candidate can overcome his double digit lead.
Despite Mr Trump’s absence, Mr Christie condemned the former president as a “dictator” during heated attacks.
His comments come after Mr Trump refused to rule out using the power of the presidency to attack political rivals during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. He promised he would not be a dictator upon returning to office “except for day one”.
But Mr Christie failed to draw his rivals, chiefly Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to join his broadside against Mr Trump.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
