Trump says it ‘depends’ on whether there will be violence if he loses the 2024 election to Biden

Former President Donald Trump is downplaying but not ruling out the possibility of political violence if he loses the November election.

“I don’t think we’re going to have that. I think we’re going to win,” Trump told Time magazine in a cover story published Tuesday.

He had been asked about an earlier comment to Time: “I think we will have a great victory and there will be no violence” – but “what if you don’t win, sir?” the Time reporter said.

“If we don’t win, you know, that depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election,” Trump continued.

He has previously warned of trouble if things go wrong for him, writing on social media last year, before he faced any of his four criminal charges, that “false” accusations against him would bring “potential death and destruction.” (He denies all wrongdoing.)

And in March, during a campaign rally, while speaking about the auto industry, Trump said the country would face a broader “bloodbath” if he was not elected in November.

Speaking to Time for the new cover story, he alluded to his frequent, evidence-free allegations of widespread voter fraud and said, “I don’t believe they’re going to be able to do the things they did last time. I don’t think they will be able to get away with it. And if that’s the case, we will win in record fashion.

The former president himself faces federal charges for his actions related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat before a violent riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify his defeat.

Since then, Trump has embraced and defended the people prosecuted for his alleged actions during January 6th. The Justice Department said this month that nearly 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the attack, including 129 people accused of “using a deadly or dangerous weapon.” or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.”

Approximately 800 people have pleaded guilty to their charges and another 156 people have been convicted at trial, according to the DOJ.

Trump told Time he would “absolutely” consider pardoning each of the people prosecuted.

“I think it’s a two-tier justice system. I think it’s a very, very sad thing,” he said of the protesters, whom he called “hostages.” In his Time interviews, he called them “patriots.”

“If someone was bad and mean, I would see it differently,” he noted.

Elsewhere in his interviews, Trump stated that if he won a second term, he would not try to defy the Constitution and would try to remain in power longer – with a third term – as some have warned.

“I don’t really have a choice, but I would have,” Trump said of retiring after a second term.

He “would not be in favor of a challenge” to the 22nd Amendment, which imposes term limits, he said. “I plan to serve four years and do a great job.”

And while he continues to focus on the issue of retribution for his supporters and allegations of persecution over his various legal troubles during his campaign, Trump told Time that, as president, he may fire U.S. attorneys who refuse his orders. of suing someone, saying, “It would depend on the situation.”

Trump suggested that as president he would not “wish” to prosecute the district attorneys who brought cases against him, such as Alvin Bragg and Fani Willis, but did not give a direct answer when asked by Time whether he would still order his DOJ. to do this.

He previously said during the campaign that Bragg should be prosecuted, but denied making that comment to Time.

“We will look at many things as they are looking at. What they did is a terrible thing. No, I don’t want to do [prosecute them],” he told Time, later saying, “Our retribution will be through the success of our country.”

Although Trump said he would appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” the Bidens, he told Time that “it depends on what happens with the Supreme Court” as the justices consider whether to grant Trump some immunity from prosecution for conduct while in office. White House.

“A president should have immunity. This includes [Joe] Biden. If they decide they have no immunity, Biden, probably nothing to do with me, he would be prosecuted,” Trump told Time, claiming without evidence that Biden broke the law.

Biden’s campaign attacked Trump’s latest comments.

“Not since the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under attack at home like they are today — because of Donald Trump,” Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement Tuesday.

“Joe Biden believes that democracy is still a sacred cause and his campaign is about the future that America will build together,” Singer said, “not about the illusion of a dictatorship of a small, weak man.”