WASHINGTON − Former President Donald Trump is again threatening to use executive power to jail political opponents if he's elected this fall and fraud is documented in the 2024 election, expanding his target list to include election volunteers and poll workers this fall.
In a Truth Social post late Saturday , Trump said his lawyers and other allies would be watching polling stations for alleged "cheating," echoing the false claims he has long made about the 2020 election.
This election "will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law," Trump threatened, echoing claims of "Skullduggery" in the 2020 election that have been refuted by officials in both parties, including members of the Trump administration. Trump and other Republicans launched a flurry of lawsuits over the 2020 presidential election, none of which were successful.
Documented cases of voter fraud are rare across the country.
Trump − a convicted felon who has been indicted in four separate criminal cases, including two involving alleged efforts to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden − has made "retribution" a key theme of his 2024 election campaign. His threats have extended all the way to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris , his current election opponent.
Numerous officials in both parties have also pointed to Trump's comments that he would be a "dictator on day one" of a second term.
"He said he wants to terminate the Constitution," said Ammar Moussa, director of rapid response for the Harris campaign. "Now he's publicly promising to lock up his political enemies. And, now, he has the blueprint and Supreme Court to let him do whatever he wants. Take him seriously."
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump's threats have ranged from prosecuting former military officials to Biden himself over the handling of classified material .
He has also begun to target Harris after her rise to the top of the Democratic ticket. During a speech in Wisconsin on Saturday, Trump called for "modifying" the 25th Amendment to permit removal of a vice president who seeks to "cover up the incapacity of the president." That seems a political impossibility; changing the U.S. Constitution requires approval from two-thirds support of Congress and three-fourths of the nation's state legislatures.
Biden has not been incapacitated and said he made the decision to withdraw from the presidential race on his own.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said: "Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels."
One target, former House Republican leadership official Liz Cheney , told ABC's "This Week" that the Republican Party has nominated a "depraved" person, citing the near-insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. "We see it on a daily basis, somebody who was willing to use violence in order to attempt to seize power, to stay in power," Cheney told ABC. The former president has not been charged with inciting the Capitol riot.
Her father. former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Harris last week.
Trump's latest threat comes just days before pivotal events in the 2024 election cycle, including Tuesday's debate with Harris . Early voting also starts in several states later this month.
In May, a New York jury convicted him over charges related to paying hush money to cover up an encounter with an adult film star and prevent voters from hearing about it right before the 2016 election. Trump is awaiting sentencing in that case, which has been delayed until after Election Day on Nov. 5.
Trump's latest threats came shortly after what his campaign dubbed a news conference in which Trump took no questions from reporters. He spent nearly 50 minutes railing against his various accusers, particularly women who said he engaged in inappropriate behavior.
The event followed a hearing on Trump's appeal of a jury verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll .
Trump also brought up the idea of prosecuting opponents during a speech last week to the Economic Club of New York, as he protested the legal actions against him.
"They always have to remember that two can play the game," he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump rails against cheating in 2024 election without evidence, threatens prison sentences
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