Donald Trump wants to talk about revenge and neither Sean Hannity nor Dr. Phil can stop him.
They both tried.
Fresh off the historic guilty verdict in New York, Trump’s public comments, including in interviews with both men, have increasingly focused on the idea of ”retribution” against his enemies if he returns to the White House.
It is rhetoric driven by Trump’s obsession that President Joe Biden and the Democrats have orchestrated a series of legal problems designed to derail his presidential campaign – a theory of political persecution not supported by the facts.
On May 31, a New York jury unanimously found Trump guilty on 34 counts related to falsifying business records tied to a $130,000 payment he made to an adult film star during the 2016 election. Biden had nothing to do with the case.
But for Trump, it’s all politics, and revenge may be necessary.
“Well, revenge takes time, I will say that,” Trump said during a Thursday interview with Dr. “And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. Sometimes it can.
Trump, whose campaign did not return a request for comment, has given at least five interviews since his guilty verdict. In all five, he talked about possible retribution.
“I think there should be concern,” said Ty Cobb, the lawyer who served as White House counsel during the Trump administration. “From a 30,000-foot view, what I see is Trump angrier now than he was before because he’s been convicted now.”
The Dr. Phil interview came a day after Trump spoke with Hannity and at times appeared to debate the idea of getting revenge.
At one point, Trump said “they’re wrong” when the Fox News host asked about those who say Trump will use his administration for revenge, but at the same time, he laid out potential opportunities.
“Look, when this election is over, based on what they did, I would have every right to go after them,” Trump said. “And it’s easy because it’s Joe Biden, and you see all the crime, all the money that goes to the family and to him, all this money from China, from Russia, from Ukraine.”
Hannity tried to steer Trump away from the idea of revenge, at one point interrupting him to try to encourage him that political retribution “has to stop.”
Phil also tried to get Trump to say he wouldn’t seek revenge if he won in November.
“That’s a big issue and I’ve leaned heavily into the position of saying ‘look, this isn’t going to help this country,’” Dr. told CNN from his interview with Trump.
In other interviews and public appearances, Trump has made similar comments.
On Tuesday, in an interview with the conservative channel Newsmax, Trump appeared to suggest the possibility of jailing his political opponents if he became president again.
“So, you know, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re taking us down, and it’s very possible that this has to happen to them,” Trump said.
“Does this mean the next president will do this to them? That’s really the issue,” he added.
He also suggested there would be a “breaking point” for the public if he were sentenced to prison or house arrest pending sentencing scheduled for July 11.
An open desire for revenge against political enemies is nothing new for Trump or his supporters.
While still president in 2020, Trump took to social media to ask “Where are all the prisons?”Echoing criticism from his supporters that his own attorney general, William Barr, has not arrested people like Biden, former President Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for what Trump said was illegal activity linked to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in Russia.
Trump also made “lock her up” a rallying cry during his 2016 campaign against Clinton, promising his supporters that he would put the former secretary of state in prison if elected. Trump recently denied saying “lock her up,” despite extensive video of him saying exactly that during the 2016 election.
Trump often portrays his calls for revenge as something he is doing on behalf of all his supporters.
“I know a lot of Republicans who want retribution,” Trump told NBC News on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago. “They want to do this. Let’s see what happens.”
He told a crowd at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference that “to those who have done wrong and been betrayed, I am your retribution.” In January, he said on Fox News that he “will have no time for retribution” if elected — comments that came just hours after he sent out a fundraising email again telling supporters “I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION.”
But as the full weight of his legal troubles has become visible this year – and especially since his guilty verdict – this revenge-fueled language has taken center stage.
“Even Hannity recognized that this was dangerous territory and tried to draw him in,” said Cobb, who, while in the White House, helped coordinate the internal response to Mueller’s Russia investigation. “Trump wouldn’t have any of that.”
Cobb said he believed the country’s institutions would resist if Trump tried to pursue clearly politically motivated revenge, but that it was a situation nonetheless fraught with danger.
“I think the checks and balances are in place to resist those instincts because he needs to get people to comply with them,” he added.
For Trump’s political base, the renewed focus on revenge on political opponents has support.
“I agree with him,” said Adam Radogna, a 35-year-old Trump supporter from Cleveland. “Obviously nothing, you know, against the law. But he’s just saying, ‘Hey, we’re going after you because you’re going after me.'”
Parker Shonts, a 22-year-old Trump supporter from Fowlerville, Michigan, said it’s about “responsibility.”
“I would say ‘revenge’ is a buzzword in campaigns, but ‘responsibility’ would seem more appropriate,” he said.
Calls for revenge among Trump supporters intensified again on Thursday when a federal judge ordered former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to report to prison on July 1 to begin a four-year sentence. months for defying subpoenas from the January 6 committee. The news angered Trump supporters and led Bannon to make direct threats.
“Don’t pray for me. Pray for my enemies,” Bannon said Thursday. “They’re the ones who need it.”
In response to Bannon’s arrest order, Trump posted on Truth Socail that the members of the January 6 Committee should be indicted.
“INDATE THE J6 COMMITTEE UNSELECTED FOR ILLEGALLY DELETING AND DESTROYING ALL OF THEIR ‘DISCOVERIES!’” Trump wrote.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
