- Trump claims DOJ plans to execute him
- Claims aim to incite supporters, intensify conspiracy theories
- Strategy reframes Trump as victim, critics as democracy threats
Donald Trump expressed an alarming concern in a fundraising email on Tuesday and social media. He stated that the Department of Justice was prepared to execute him.
The outrageous distortion occurred in the context of Trump’s hush-money trial in New York and amid concerns about the escalating political violence surrounding the upcoming presidential election, which is primarily attributed to the far right. The comments continue to solidify the distorted image that Trump and his allies have presented, in which a patriotic Trump is juxtaposed with anti-democratic deep-state adversaries.
The ludicrous assertions can potentially incite conspiracy theories and escalate the level of fury among his supporters. The fundraising email for the Trump campaign, which the former president signed, stated, “You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable.” “Joe Biden was prepared to extract me and endanger my family.”
Trump reiterated the claims on the social media platform Truth Social. He claimed that the FBI was authorized to use lethal force during the illegal and unconstitutional raid of Mar-a-Lago by the corrupt Department of Justice under Joe Biden.
In August 2022, plainclothes agents of the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in pursuit of classified documents that Trump had allegedly refused to turn over to the government. It is believed that Trump was referencing the order for a search warrant that was executed.
In a May court filing, Trump’s legal team references a sentence from the search warrant in a section titled “The Illegal Raid.”
“The Order included a ‘Policy Statement’ on the ‘Use of Deadly Force,’ which, for instance, read, ‘Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.'” wrote attorneys representing Trump.
The language used in the filing was derived from a policy of the Department of Justice that delineates the use of force in the execution of search warrants. The policy’s unabridged text states that “Law enforcement officers and correctional officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force only when necessary,” which is defined as when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of the force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person.
The agency reportedly communicated with the Secret Service agents present to ensure a smooth operation and executed the warrant to search Trump’s Florida residence while Trump was in New York.
The FBI characterized the language as “a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force” in a statement. No one directed the implementation of additional measures, and there was no deviation from the standard procedure in this instance.
Previous reports by The Washington Post have indicated that FBI agents selected a day for the search when Trump would not be present at Mar-a-Lago and informed the Secret Service before the event.
However, Trump’s remarks regarding the filing have sparked a fervour. Similarly, Christina Bobb, an attorney for the former president who signed documents before the search that purported to demonstrate that Trump had complied with the subpoena for records, responded with extreme hyperbole.
“What the heck?” They were prepared to murder me?! I was the target of a few dozen FBI agents who were ready to murder me. What has transpired in the United States of America? Wrote Bobb on the subject of X.
Also on X, Paul Gosar, an Arizona congressman and staunch Trump ally, wrote, “These people are sick.” In a subsequent post, he elaborated, “Biden ordered the hit on Trump at Mar-A-Lago.”
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The rhetorical redirection, which encompasses the content of Trump’s legal battles, which include the mishandling of classified documents, alleged financial improprieties, and his bold attempt to overturn the 2020 election, is a component of a strategy that Trump and his allies are adopting in anticipation of the 2024 presidential election.
The public relations strategy repurposes Trump’s anti-democratic proclivities as accusations directed at his critics, who are referred to as “enemies” in the former president’s terminology. The Department of Justice, the media, the Democrats, and Rinos—Republican in name only—are the only entities that venture to criticize him in communications widely shared with his followers. These entities threaten democracy.
Trump, who has threatened “death and destruction” if he is charged with crimes and who defended supporters who called for the assassination of former Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to participate in the electoral overthrow plot, is urging his supporters to view him as the victim.
Trump concluded in his post, accusing the Department of Justice of preparing to employ lethal force, “NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.”
