Trump Talks about Military Deployment on Election Day against the “Enemy Within”

In an interview with the right-wing Fox News channel, US presidential candidate Donald Trump threatens “left-wing radicals” with violence. He presents his own supporters as peaceful – despite the storming of the Capitol after the last (lost) election.

The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has brought the deployment of the U.S. military on election day into play. The aim is to take action against the “enemy within”, as he called it. Specifically, he meant “left-wing crazy people”, as reported by the TV channel CNN, among others.

“I think it should be very easy to handle, if necessary by the National Guard or, if absolutely necessary, by the military”, Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

Trump said also he is not worried about the chaos that could be caused by his own supporters or possible foreign actors. He also played down the fact that his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol after losing the last election on Jan. 6, 2021: There is no danger from his voters, he said repeatedly.

“Not from the side that votes for Trump”, the former president replied when asked if he expected chaos on Election Day. “The bigger problem is the enemy within”, he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign team responded to Trump's comments in a statement on last Sunday. It said that Trump's statements should ”alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security”.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing since the storming of the Capitol and tried to shift the blame for the attempted insurrection to others, including Democrats. However, he is charged at the federal and state level with interfering in the 2020 elections in Washington, D.C. and Georgia. He himself has pleaded “not guilty” in these cases.

Meanwhile, Trump has once again made it clear what economic policy course he would pursue if he were to win the election. The Republican wants to use legislation to impose tariffs of more than 200 percent on vehicles imported from Mexico. “All I'm doing is saying, 'I'll put 200 or 500, I don't care. I will set a number where they won't be able to sell a single car”, he said in the Fox News interview.

Trump had previously promised that if re-elected as president, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on imported cars and trucks to support the domestic auto industry. At a rally last week, he then doubled that number: ”I don't want them to hurt our automakers.” He had already threatened to impose high tariffs on cars from Mexico when he was president and a candidate in 2016.

According to experts, the introduction of tariffs on Mexican cars and components could have a serious impact on the industry and drive up vehicle costs. Trump has also threatened to prosecute and give »long prison sentences« to election officials and political staffers who, in his opinion, are capable of cheating. He also hinted again that he would use the justice system as a weapon against his political opponents if he wins the election.