Donald Trump has defended his chilling comments about sending the military after US citizens who disagree with him on election day, claiming he thought he was actually being “nice.”
At a town hall event with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner in Georgia recorded on Tuesday, Trump was asked about the remarks he had made in a sit-down interview with the network’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
When Bartiromo suggested that America was headed for possible violence on election day due to scores of immigrants supposedly being let into the US illegally by the Biden administration, Trump claimed the “real” problem was the so-called “enemy within.”
“I don’t think [immigrants] are the problem in terms of election day,” Trump told Bartiromo. “I think the bigger problem are the people from within, we have some very bad people, sick people, radical left lunatics.”
He added: “And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
He added: “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. Not even the people who have come in, who are destroying our country.”
Trump faced a wave of backlash from the Harris campaign, who seized upon his remarks and released an attack ad titled “Enemy Within.” The vice president also responded directly during a Pennsylvania rally on Tuesday night, where she said a second Trump term was a “huge risk” for America and called the Republican candidate “unhinged.”
When asked about his comments on Tuesday night, Trump doubled down, insisting he “wasn’t unhinged” and claiming he was actually being “nice.”
Replaying the clip of Trump’s comments, Faulkner pointed to Harris’s claims that he “sounded unhinged” and was “out for unchecked power.”
“I thought it was a nice presentation,” Trump responded, sparking laughter from the audience.
The former president then launched into a fresh attack on Democrats.
“They’re Marxists and communists and fascists, and they’re sick,” he said.
“We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they’re so sick and they’re so evil.”
Harris’s running mate Tim Walz also called out Trump’s comments, describing it as “a call for violence.” The Minnesota governor said: “He’s suggesting that he is going to send the military against the ‘enemy from within.’ In other words, Americans who don’t support him. It’s a call for violence and it’s pretty damn un-American.”
Trump’s former defense secretary, Mark Esper, also weighed in on the comments, warning voters: “Take Trump’s comments about using the military against American citizens very seriously.”
Tuesday night’s town hall at the Reid Barn in Cumming, Georgia, was pitched as an event to address women’s issues across the US. But many of the attendees were from Republican groups around the area whom Fox News invited.
The town hall will air at 11am ET today on The Faulkner Focus.