Former President Donald Trump wouldn’t commit to ending the political persecution he claims President Joe Biden has exercised as the leader of the country.
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump told the country how important he thinks it is for the next president to break the cycle of “weaponization” he claims has been used against him. The interview pulled back the veil on some of Trump’s thinking about how he might wield power if he returns to the White House next year.
In one of the interview’s most surprising takeaways, Trump hinted at the possibility of not pursuing retribution against Biden. When Hannity flatly asked whether he would commit to dropping the cycle of “lawfare,” Trump demurred, saying people don’t want to see Biden indicted.
“We can’t have this stuff go on,” Trump said. “Because you know what, when Biden goes out, and everyone says ‘bye-bye,’ and he gets indicted two days later, and they go after him? The country doesn’t want that!”
When Hannity pressed him further, saying, “People are claiming you want retribution. People are claiming you want what has happened to you done to Democrats. Would you do that ever?”
Trump replied, “It has to stop.”
While Trump suggested he doesn’t have plans to go after Biden, that softening was a break from promises he’s made in the past. And despite his insistence the cycle “has to stop,” he didn’t commit to stopping it himself.
“Look, when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them,” Trump said.
In May 2023, Trump posted on Truth Social, saying, “I will appoint a real special ‘prosecutor’ to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family, & all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders, & country itself!”
During a November 2023 Univision Noticias interview, host Enrique Acevedo asked Trump about his legal cases, saying, “You say they’ve weaponized the Justice Department, they weaponized the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re reelected?”
“They’ve already done it, but if they want to follow through on this, yeah, it could certainly happen in reverse,” Trump replied. “They’ve released the genie out of the box.”
Throughout the interview, Trump maintained he was innocent of everything he has been charged with, particularly the 34 counts of business fraud he was found guilty of in a Manhattan courtroom last week.
“I did nothing wrong,” Trump said. “There was no crime. … Almost all of these cases that are being brought against me, they are doing it for the purposes of hurting a political opponent of Biden and trying to get him to win.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which brought the New York criminal charges against Trump, operates independently from the Justice Department, and Biden has maintained his separation from all of Trump’s cases.
Besides complaining about the accusations levied against him, Trump insisted the way he was treated by officials, prosecutors, and the judge was unconstitutional.
“It’s totally unconstitutional what they’ve done,” he alleged. ”The way the judge charged the jury … gave jury instructions, nobody’s ever heard anything like that.”
Trump believes there can be only one pathway forward: a victory this November.
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