https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...on/ar-BB1kCmR3
3/27/2024
Former President Donald Trump has been very clear in his intentions. He has vowed to go after his political opponents, and to use the Justice Department to do so. He told Univision, "If I happen to be president and I see somebody who's doing well and beating me very badly, I say go down and indict them. ...
They would be out of business. They'd be out. They'd be out of the election." He echoed that same sentiment to Lou Dobbs, claiming that he's been the target of political weaponization, and musing, "I can do it too."
Trump's promised to continue his assault on the freedom of religion and separation of church and state, not just pledging to expand the Muslim ban (or "travel ban") he imposed during his first administration, but vowing to go after atheists as well, who he declared to be part of the forces of "evil."
"Together, we're warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists and the Marxists," Trump told Faith & Freedom Coalition last year, employing his usual apocalyptic language, "And we will restore our Republic as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all." Think he's not serious? To further this goal, he wants all immigrant to have "ideological screening." How much will the MAGA ideology play into this?
Trump's promised to also gut federal agencies so that he can put in MAGA loyalists. "We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus," he said. "So that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left's political enemies."
He's attacked free speech, calling the press the "enemy of the people" and repeatedly threatening to sue reporters who speak out against him. He's also promised to go after media that criticizes him, like MSNBC, declaring that the government "should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity." In Trump's previous term, recall, he even considered shooting protesters.
Trump's shown kleptocratic tendencies, using his political support to enrich himself and his family. That includes duping his supporters into buying stock in his new company, potentially enriching himself by billions; benefiting from foreign entities while president in clear violation of the Emoluments Clause; helping his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, secure billions of dollars of Saudi money while Trump was president; selling his supporters everything from trading cards to sneakers; and making his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, co-chair of the RNC so that she can raid its coffers to pay for his defense fund.