Trump promises political retribution, anti-migrant measures if elected
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 He's going crazy.
00:01 When Donald Trump appeared on Fox News recently, the host seemed keen to calm fears that the
00:05 former president would not abuse his power if he's re-elected.
00:09 But instead, Trump doubled down.
00:12 You are promising America tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.
00:19 Except for day one.
00:20 Except for?
00:21 Look, he's going crazy.
00:22 Except for day one.
00:23 Meaning?
00:24 I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.
00:29 At his rallies in recent weeks, Trump has praised authoritarian leaders such as Kim
00:33 Jong-un, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, calling them brilliant men.
00:39 And he's used language echoing the Nazis, saying that immigrants were, quote, "poisoning
00:43 the blood of our country," comments he's repeated in the face of sharp criticism.
00:49 And it's true.
00:50 They're destroying the blood of our country.
00:52 That's what they're doing.
00:53 They're destroying our country.
00:55 They don't like it when I said that.
00:57 And I never read Mein Kampf.
00:59 If re-elected, the former president has pledged to take care of unfinished business from his
01:04 first term, completing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, reinstating travel bans
01:10 on some Muslim-majority countries and withdrawing the U.S. from NATO.
01:15 But he's also made a series of new promises, including ending birthright citizenship in
01:21 the United States and canceling the visas of foreign students who've participated in
01:26 what he's called anti-Israel protests.
01:30 He's also talked about reviving a program used by President Eisenhower in the 1950s
01:35 known by the ethnic slur Operation Wetback, where it's estimated some one million Mexican
01:40 migrants were rounded up and deported.
01:43 A 1,000-page document drawn up by Trump allies at the conservative group the Heritage Foundation
01:49 outlines plans to dismantle the so-called deep state and to enable Trump to fire tens
01:55 of thousands of federal employees.
01:58 It also aims to give Trump influence over the Federal Communications Commission, which
02:02 regulates media in the U.S.
02:06 Political observers say Trump is running an openly authoritarian campaign, vowing to use
02:12 the justice system against his foes, including President Joe Biden, branding them human scum
02:18 and vermin.
02:19 Despite this, he remains wildly popular with his base, especially among white evangelical
02:25 voters.
02:26 He was the most supportive of the Bible of any president in my lifetime.
02:32 And I'm not saying we've had all bad presidents, but I'm saying that he was the one that stood
02:36 out to me.
02:38 With the former president facing 91 criminal counts, his critics, including former Republican
02:43 Congresswoman Liz Cheney, has said Trump would use the presidency to escape prosecution and
02:49 would refuse to abide by court rulings.
02:52 The moment that a chief executive determines that he will not abide by the rulings of the
02:57 courts, our system will unravel.
03:00 Cheney has even warned that if re-elected, Trump would refuse to leave office after his
03:04 four-year term expired.
03:07 Critics say a second Trump term would test the U.S. system of checks and balances like
03:11 never before, leaving it up to Congress and the courts to stand in his way.
03:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]