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topicnews · October 1, 2024

Why Trump’s call for Harris to be prosecuted sounds so familiar

Why Trump’s call for Harris to be prosecuted sounds so familiar

The first time Americans faced chants of “lock her up” was eight years ago, when Donald Trump targeted Hillary Clinton. In 2020, the Republican’s supporters repeated their “lock her up” chants, but this time they were directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Over the weekend, the former president announced that he wants prosecutors to take action against Vice President Kamala Harris – he didn’t fully explain why or what he thinks she did wrong – which led to a Pennsylvania, as if on cue, with a Another round responded with chants of “Lock her up.”

This led New York Magazine’s Jon Chait to raise an unnoticed point.

It is, of course, not surprising that Trump would conjure up imaginary crimes committed by his political opponent. In 2016, he recorded “Lock her up!”, a signature campaign chant. In 2020, he branded Joe Biden a criminal. The pretext for the impeachment against Harris is that as vice president she led the border protection policy that was rejected by Trump. The pretext in 2016 was Clinton’s violation of the State Department’s email protocol. In 2020, allegations that Biden benefited from his son’s business activities in Ukraine were debunked.

It’s a striking pattern. Aside from his ill-fated affair with the Reform Party in 2000, Trump now has four major party candidates in front of him.

  • In 2016, Trump confronted Hillary Clinton and called for her prosecution.
  • In 2020, Trump faced Joe Biden and called for his prosecution.
  • In early 2024, Trump expected a rematch against Biden and again called for criminal prosecution against him.
  • And at the end of 2024, Trump will face Kamala Harris and demand her prosecution.

Of course, it’s not just Democratic presidential candidates. In addition to the sitting vice president, the Republican has also launched criminal prosecutions against Google, Pelosi, those who criticize judges and Supreme Court justices, as well as anyone he believes is “cheating” in the upcoming election have aimed for the last choice.

And that was just the list from last week.

Such an approach is consistent with the former president’s incessant speeches throughout 2015 that his various political opponents – both Republican and Democratic primary rivals – should not be “allowed” to run against him.

In other words, Trump’s perspective is rooted in the idea that he is entitled to the power he wants and that if anyone stands in his way, he will inevitably commit injustice. If that means continually calling for criminal charges against enemies who haven’t broken any laws, then so be it.

Chait added in his post that Trump views crime “as an activity that, by definition, includes any political or media activity detrimental to him and excludes any activity by him or his allies.”

The next time the Republican candidate talks about “law and order,” be sure to keep this in mind.

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