In a Fox News interview which aired Sunday, Trump referred to his political opponents in the U.S. as “the enemy from within,” suggested they were worse than foreign adversaries, and said the National Guard — and the military — should be used against them. Per the Associated Press:
In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Channel, Trump was asked about the potential of “outside agitators” disrupting Election Day and he then pivoted to what he called “the enemy from within.”
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
Here’s the segment:
Trump had also repeated his attack on California Democrat Adam Schiff as one of those enemies:
The Harris campaign quickly highlighted and responded to the comments. “Taken with his vow to be a dictator on ‘day one,’ calls for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, this should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security,” campaign spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.
As the AP adds, the interview was just the latest instance of Trump indicating he would use the military as a domestic force:
He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. border with Mexico. He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him. …
The former president and his advisers are developing plans to shift the military’s priorities and resources, even at a time when wars are raging in Europe and the Middle East. Trump’s top priority in his platform, known as Agenda 47, is to implement hardline measures at the U.S.-Mexico border by “moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas” to that border. He is also pledging to “declare war” on cartels and deploy the Navy in a blockade that would board and inspect ships for fentanyl. Trump also has said he will use the National Guard and possibly the military as part of the operation to deport millions of immigrants who do not have permanent legal status.
While Trump’s campaign declined to discuss the details of those plans, including how many troops he would shift from overseas assignments to the border, his allies are not shy about casting the operation as a sweeping mission that would use the most powerful tools of the federal government in new and dramatic ways.
