Former President Donald Trump’s increasingly explicit intentions to wield presidential power for personal vendettas against his perceived political adversaries are deeply concerning. His rhetoric of retaliation is nothing new; since his political debut in 2015, he has consistently exploited grievance politics to rally his base. And at last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, he boldly proclaimed himself as a warrior and avenger for those wronged. Yet, following his recent conviction on 34 felony counts in New York—a case where sentencing is still pending—Trump’s vengeful promises appear more self-serving than ever, seemingly driven by his own legal predicaments rather than any genuine advocacy for his supporters.
Political scientist James A. Morone from Brown University told VOA that Trump’s pledge to use federal power against political enemies has no clear historical parallel in the U.S.
“This is really unprecedented for a president to be doing this,” Morone said. “And really, the historical precedents are quite the contrary.”
Even after the Civil War, there were no prosecutions of prominent former Confederate officials or military officers. Jefferson Davis, the former Confederate President, was arrested and charged with treason but never prosecuted; charges were eventually dropped, allowing him to return to private life as a U. S. citizen.
Morone criticized Trump’s rhetoric, highlighting its troubling nature as it potentially influences current and future public officials to believe they must prove their allegiance to him. This raises significant concerns about the implications for political integrity and independence.
“Every time he gives a speech or an interview that says, ‘Revenge is coming. Revenge can be good,’ they’ll be sitting around thinking, ‘OK … let’s think of what we can do to put ourselves in good standing as Trump warriors,’ ” Morone said.
“You could easily imagine it leading to real harm,” he said.
This morning, MSNBC’s Katie Phang raised a troubling question about whether Americans should be worried that President-elect Donald Trump might pursue revenge plots reminiscent of Adolf Hitler against his political adversaries. On this morning’s episode of The Katie Phang Show, she responded to comments made by Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was recently released from prison. Bannon appeared on The Sean Spicer Show and called for former Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to be recalled to “active duty” on the first day of Trump’s administration and face a court martial. This situation is causing considerable unease about potential actions in the political landscape.
Milley has emerged as a prominent critic of Trump, describing him as “fascist to the core.”
“Listen, this is obviously motivated by revenge, but we’ve seen this before, historically. Adolf Hitler purged the Nazi Party of Nazis that he felt had too much power and could become political enemies in the future. Matthew, how concerned should we be about drawing these parallels?” Phang asked after airing the Bannon clip.
MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd, who typically refrains from making comparisons to Hitler, acknowledged that there are indeed some notable similarities. This observation invites us to consider the parallels and reflect on their implications seriously.
Dowd argued:
“I don’t think we should be concerned about drawing parallels because they are very apt to the situation we are in today. I am not one that calls somebody Hitler, but there are Hitler-like performances that Donald Trump, and words that he uses quite often. And it seems that there is no problem among the Republican caucus and among Republicans to have some semblance of autocracy in our country over democracy here. And so it’s exceedingly concerning the fact that Steve Bannon has any sway at all after he just stepped out of prison just days ago in the course of this, that he has any sway over this administration is concerning.”
Phang later expressed concern, wondering if Trump might also aim to control the media in ways reminiscent of countries like North Korea and China. After all, he seems to idolize the leaders of those of those countries, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un.
“Should members of the press, including you, be concerned and the public, frankly, for that matter who is relying on us to continue to provide the truth in the face of something that is antidemocratic?” she asked.
“Yes, I think we all should be concerned, all of us that are in media who have made,” Woke AF Daily podcast host Danielle Moodie said. “I think we all have made our lives and our careers of narrating the American story and the fact is Donald Trump has sued a number of outlets, including this one, before he was president-elect. So the ability to be able to weaponize government against those that he does not like, particularly the press. I mean, that to me is going to be the death blow of democracy.”
