"NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump declined to rule out abusing power if he wins the presidency again after Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked him Tuesday to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric.
The GOP presidential front-runner has talked about targeting his rivals — referring to them as “vermin” — and seeking retribution if he returns to the Oval Office for what he argues are politically motivated prosecutions against him. As Trump has dominated the Republican presidential primary, President Joe Biden has stepped up his own warnings, contending Trump is “ determined to destroy American democracy.”
“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked.
“Except for day one,” Trump responded. “I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.”
Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, no, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”
Earlier in the interview, Hannity had asked Trump if he “in any way” had “any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power, to break the law to use the government to go after people.”
“You mean like they’re using right now?” Trump responded.
The interview before a live audience was taped in Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday and aired later in the night.
Trump had tried to turn the tables on Biden during a Saturday speech in Iowa, arguing that the man whose election victory Trump tried to overturn is “the destroyer of American democracy.”"
Do not be complacent. VOTE and get your friends and family to VOTE. Remember what happened in 2016. “This guy could never win.” It CAN happen again. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
(if anyone is interested: https://kbin.social/m/antitrump)
who would be stupid enough to bother asking him
The autocracy is a feature not a bug for his voters
“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, no, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”
When has any would-be dictator ever stuck by this?
But also, what in the world is he referring to by “drill” in this context? As in military drills? Is this essentially Trump-speak for lockdown and eliminate political opposition?
I think he means drilling for oil and reversing the government’s support for clean energy technologies.
Which is funny, because the Biden admin is already opening sites back up and waving new drilling proposals through.
Why in the world would Fox News report on Biden doing what they want him to, especially when Trump is planning to attack him for his green energy accomplishments?
I’m implicitly suggesting that Biden shouldn’t be tacking to the center to win imaginary centrist voters. I’m betting drilling fits hist admin’s and donors’ agenda anyway, though.
Oh, right, duh. The rest of the article had me thinking along a different track than general policies, and increasing oil production is easily the last thing I’d think anyone should be considering given the state of things, but leave it to backwards people.
Quoth the Privs: “bUt BiDeN sAmE!”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump declined to rule out abusing power if he wins the presidency again after Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked him Tuesday to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric.
The GOP presidential front-runner has talked about targeting his rivals — referring to them as “vermin” — and seeking retribution if he returns to the Oval Office for what he argues are politically motivated prosecutions against him.
“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked.
Earlier in the interview, Hannity had asked Trump if he “in any way” had “any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power, to break the law to use the government to go after people.”
The interview before a live audience was taped in Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday and aired later in the night.
Trump had tried to turn the tables on Biden during a Saturday speech in Iowa, arguing that the man whose election victory Trump tried to overturn is “the destroyer of American democracy.”
The original article contains 285 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 37%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
What scares me more than the fact that this guy exists are how many people chose to and continue to support him
