The first time Americans were confronted with “lock her up” chants was eight years ago, when Donald Trump targeted Hillary Clinton. In 2020, the Republican’s followers brought back “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 go after Vice President Kamala Harris — he didn’t fully explain why or what he thinks she’s done wrong — leading a Pennsylvania crowd to respond, as if on cue, with yet another round of “lock her up” chants.
It led New York magazine’s Jon Chait to touch on an unappreciated point.
It is obviously unsurprising that Trump would conjure up imaginary crimes by his political opponent. In 2016, he made ‘Lock her up!’ a signature campaign chant. In 2020, he branded Joe Biden a criminal. The pretext for Harris’s prosecution is that, as vice-president, she presided over border-enforcement policies that Trump opposes. In 2016, the pretext was Clinton’s violation of State Department email protocol. In 2020, it was disproven charges that Biden profited from his son’s business activity in Ukraine.”
It’s a striking pattern. Putting aside his ill-fated fling with the Reform Party in 2000, Trump has now faced four major-party tickets.
- In 2016, Trump faced 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 his prosecution.
- And now in late 2024, Trump is facing Kamala Harris and calling for her prosecution.
It’s not just Democratic presidential candidates, of course. In addition to the incumbent vice president, the Republican has also sought criminal prosecutions against Google, Pelosi, those who criticize judges and Supreme Court justices, anyone whom he believes “cheats” in the upcoming election, and anyone whom he believes “cheated” in the last election.
And that was just the list from last week.
Such an approach dovetails with the former president’s incessant talk, dating back to 2015, that his assorted political opponents — both GOP primary rivals and Democrats — shouldn’t be “allowed” to run against him. Trump’s perspective, in other words, is rooted in the idea that he’s entitled to the power he wants, and to stand in his way is to necessarily be engaged in wrongdoing. If that means repeatedly calling for criminal charges against foes who’ve broken no laws, so be it. Chait added in his piece that Trump views crime “as an activity that definitionally encompasses all political or media activity disadvantageous to him and excluding all activity by him or his allies.” The next time the GOP nominee references “law and order,” be sure to keep this in mind.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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