Donald Trump on Sunday said he wants to use the military on United States citizens who disagree with him, describing these “radical left” Americans as the “enemy within.” He doubled down on his demonization of his opponents during a Fox News town hall event on Wednesday, describing “evil” Democrats as more dangerous than China or Russia.
The comments come amid a week of reckoning with Trump’s increasingly fascistic language, particularly the suggestion on Sunday that the military may be necessary to quell dissent.
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures. “We have some very bad people, some sick people, radical left lunatics,” he continued. “It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz both addressed Trump’s comments on Monday, with Harris telling supporters in Pennsylvania that Trump is “unhinged” and after “unchecked power,” and Walz arguing in Wisconsin that the former president “crossed a line.” Republicans, meanwhile, have spent the week scrambling to spin the threat — largely by claiming Trump didn’t actually say what he did, in fact, actually say.
Fox News has now joined the effort to temper Trump’s comments. Host Harris Faulkner brought them up during a town hall on Wednesday, playing a montage of Trump talking to Bartiromo about the “enemy from within” — but omitting the part where he called on using the military to suppress those who disagree with him. “Mr. President, Kamala Harris has said you sound ‘unhinged’ and that ‘unchecked power’ is in our future,” Faulkner said.
Trump reiterated that the “enemy within” is “very dangerous” and “sick,” using Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — whom Trump also mentioned to Bartiromo — and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as examples. “They’re so evil,” Trump said. “When they heard about that, they were saying I was threatening. I am not threatening anybody.”
Faulkner’s audience may be inclined to agree with Trump, as she didn’t air the threatening part of Trump’s comments to Bartiromo.
The omission comes as Trump has raised hell over CBS editing portions of its 60 Minutes interview with Harris last week, with Trump even calling for the network to lose its broadcasting license over what he has described as the “Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History.” (Trump was also scheduled to appear on 60 Minutes, but canceled because he didn’t want to be fact-checked, according to the program.)
Trump describing his political opponents as greater enemies of America than China, Russia, or the immigrants he repeatedly claims have turned the nation into a crime-infested hell hole is, of course, plenty extreme in itself. The former president’s rhetoric is particularly notable considering he and his campaign have been accusing Democrats of using excessively divisive rhetoric, effectively blaming them for the two assassination attempts against Trump this summer.
It’s also notable because Trump has long been campaigning on using the power of the presidency to exact retribution on his political enemies, openly musing about weaponizing the Justice Department — and now the military — to carry out his revenge fantasies. MAGA Republicans may be dismissing his threats (”I don’t believe that’s what he’s saying,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday), but those who have worked with Trump are convinced he means it.
“Yes, I think we should take those words seriously,” former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNN earlier this week when asked about Trump’s comments on Sunday.