Trump pledges authoritarian crackdown, saying enemies to be prosecuted at levels "never seen before"

Former President Donald Trump is promising to carry out what he described as an unprecedented crackdown on his political enemies should he win the 2024 election, saying that after his victory there will be a wave of arrests and prosecutions at a level "never seen before in our Country."

The Republican candidate, who recently admitted that he lost the 2020 election, returned Saturday evening to falsely claiming he defeated President Joe Biden but that his victory was stolen from him. In a post shared on social media, Trump reiterated his usual litany of falsehoods about U.S. elections while promising that, "WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again."

The 78-year-old GOP nominee went on to assert that the country could not be allowed to become a "Third World Nation," a threat his campaign has repeatedly invoked in the race against Vice President Kamala Harris. In August, Trump's campaign shared an ad that echoed white nationalist language on migration, stating: "Import the third world" and "Become the third world," an image of Black men used to depict "your neighborhood under Kamala."

On Saturday, the former president denied the possibility that he could legitimately lose in November. He also emphasized that his promised post-election crackdown would be sweeping in nature, claiming targets would include "Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials." Hundreds if not thousands of people could ultimately be detained, he suggested, writing: "Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country."

Trump has previously called for terminating the U.S. Constitution so that he could return to power, while also saying he would be a dictator on "day one." Under Project 2025, a plan for a second term drafted by allies at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, Trump would purge the federal government of career, nonpartisan bureaucrats, replacing experts and others with MAGA loyalists.

The threat that a second Trump presidency poses to democracy has prompted even some former leading Republicans to speak out. On Friday, former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Harris, saying her opponent could not be trusted with ever wielding power again.

"In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said in a statement.