United States of America

Trump Remarks He'll Only Be a Dictator on 'Day One'

DEC 6 2023·Updated DEC 27 2023

Story

Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images News via Getty Images (Dec. 2, 2023)

The Facts

While speaking in a town hall on Fox News with Sean Hannity, former president and standing 2024 Republican Primary candidate Donald Trump stated that he would not be a dictator "except for day one" if he were to be re-elected next year.
Politico
When asked if he would promise to "never abuse power as retribution against anybody," Trump replied after he had "close[d] the border" and had begun "drilling, drilling, drilling," he would not be "a dictator."
ap
The former president was speaking in Davenport, Iowa — where the Republican Party begins its primary process on Jan. 15, 2024. Trump has previously promised "retribution" against his political opponents if he were to return to the White House.
Reuters
When further asked whether he had plans to "abuse power, to break the law, [and] to use the government to go after people," Trump stated that such behavior was occurring "right now" under the Biden administration.
NBC
While President Joe Biden claimed that Trump's campaign intended to "destroy" democracy on Tuesday, the former president similarly accused Biden on Saturday of being the "destroyer of American democracy."
EuroNews
According to a new Deseret/HarrisX poll, 86% of Republican voters and 60% of all voters believe that Trump will win the 2024 GOP nomination. The former president currently leads primary polling by approximately 40% over Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie.
Deseret News

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The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

The path to a Trump dictatorship is certainly on the table. Already, the former president faces several criminal charges concerning his attempts to undermine American democracy during the Jan. 6 attacks as well as his role in electoral interference schemes. Yet, despite this, Trump continues to display strong polling numbers against his GOP rivals, and, most importantly President Biden. It's important — given this context — to not give in to pessimism and continue to fight to protect America's values at the ballot box as the 2024 election becomes ever closer.

wapo

Pro-Trump narrative

While far-left media outlets continue to accuse President Trump of intending to use illegitimate power and force if he were to return to office, there is an audible hypocrisy in the lack of scrutiny concerning the very same behavior by Biden and his administration. Sadly, despite knowing this all too well, corrupt left-leaning media outlets will continue to not publicly recognize this — as long as those with similar ideologies stay in power, legitimate use of authority seems not to matter.

The Gateway Pundit