2023-12-07 05:25:07
Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would not become a dictator if he returned to the presidency of the United States, except “on day one”, after Democrats and some Republicans warned that the country ran the risk of becoming an autocracy if the former president win the 2024 elections.
Favorite for the Republican nomination to run for president, Trump had to be questioned twice during a meeting with voters in Iowa to deny that he will abuse the power of his office in order to take revenge on political opponents if he returns to the White House.
“No. No. Except on day one,” Trump said when asked to deny that he will become a “dictator” if he wins next year’s November election.
Trump said that on the “day one” he referred to, he will use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil exploration.
The former president, who is seeking a second term in the White House in a likely rematch with President Joe Biden, has frequently promised “retribution” to political opponents if he wins office again.
Targets include Biden, prosecutors who have charged him with dozens of crimes, the Justice Department and the federal bureaucracy, he has said in campaign speeches and TV appearances this year.
Trump was appearing at a Fox News event before a friendly crowd in Davenport, Iowa, which hosts the party’s first nominating contest on Jan. 15.
Once the event ended, Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said in a statement: “Donald Trump has been telling us exactly what he will do if he is re-elected and tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one. Americans must believe him.”
Trump was US president between 2017 and 2021 and still refuses to admit that he lost to Biden in the 2020 election.
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