Former president suggested the national guard, or military, be deployed against extremists, if needed.
Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he does not expect any chaos on Election Day from his supporters.
In a Fox Business interview, host Maria Bartiromo asked the 45th president if he anticipates any chaos on Nov. 5, the day of the election. She also made reference to an Election Day terror plot that U.S. officials said they prevented from occurring.
“No, I don’t think [so]. Not from the side that votes for Trump,” he said in response.
In Sunday’s interview, when asked about whether there might be the possibility of violence from illegal immigrants, Trump said the bigger problem is the “enemy from within” before suggesting that extremists within the United States may cause problems next month. He then suggested that the National Guard should be called in if needed.
“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and I think … 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,” the former president said, adding that “I don’t think [illegal immigrants] are the problem in terms of Election Day.”
The comment sparked a rebuke from the Harris campaign.
“Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them,” campaign spokesperson and senior advisor Ian Sams said in a statement. “This should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security.”
Bartiromo also made reference to a recent statement from President Joe Biden, who on Oct. 4 expressed concerns about the possibility of violence.
“I’m confident it will be free and fair. I don’t know whether it’ll be peaceful,” Biden said at a White House briefing with reporters, claiming that Trump could make comments about the 2024 election that are “very dangerous.”
Trump told reporters in Georgia days later that he doesn’t “know anything about” what Biden said. “All I want is a fair election. That’s all. Just a fair, honest election. I hope we’re going to get that,” Trump said.
Trump’s comment to Bartiromo was made days after special counsel Jack Smith submitted a 165-page filing in his federal case related to the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, and his legal team said it will soon file a brief in response to Smith’s filing.
With three weeks before Election Day on Nov. 5, Trump is set to face off against Vice President Kamala Harris. A tracker run by the University of Florida’s Election Lab shows that 4.4 million have voted early and in-person or returned mail-in ballots across a few dozen states so far.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed last week that an Afghan national was arrested for plotting an attack to coincide with Election Day next month and that he and a co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets, and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan, officials said.
The arrest occurred as the FBI confronts heightened concerns over the possibility of extremist violence on U.S. soil, with Director Christopher Wray saying last week that “terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.