Former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee ominously predicted that if Donald Trump is prevented from winning or running in the 2024 election, it will be the last election “decided by ballots rather than bullets.”
Mr Huckabee posed a question on his TBN show “Huckabee” earlier this week: “Do you know how political opponents to those in power are dealt with in third-world dictatorships, banana republics and communist regimes?”
“Well it’s simple,” he continued. “People in power use their police agencies to arrest their opponents for made-up crimes in an attempt to discredit them, bankrupt them, imprison them, exile them, or all of the above.”
“And if you’re not paying attention, you may not realise that Joe Biden is using exactly those tactics to make sure Donald Trump is not his opponent in 2024,” Mr Huckabee added.
“Here’s the problem: if these tactics end up working to keep Trump from winning or even running in 2024, it is going to be the last American election decided by ballots rather than bullets,” the former Arkansas governor suggested.
Mr Huckabee seemed to be reiterating a common accusation from Republicans, Mr Trump first among them, who have claimed that President Biden is essentially waging a political war against the former president as the Justice Department — and state courts — have indicted him over various charges. There is no evidence to support the claims of election interference or political retribution.
Not only has Mr Trump been federally indicted for alleged 2020 election interference, but he has also been federally indicted for his handling of classified documents. On top of these ongoing legal challenges at the federal level, Mr Trump was also charged in Manhattan in connection to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels as well as in the Fulton County, Georgia election interference probe. Not to mention that earlier on Wednesday, he was found liable for defaming former Elle columnist E Jean Carroll for a second time.
Mr Trump has repeatedly blasted the Justice Department as “weaponised” and called each investigation into him a “witch hunt.”
Following Mr Trump’s indictment in the Georgia election probe, Texas Sen Ted Cruz said, “This is disgraceful. Our country’s over 200 years old. We’ve never once indicted a former president, or a candidate or a leading candidate for president and this is Joe Biden and this is the Democratsweaponizing the justice system because they’re afraid of the voters.”
Similarly, after the federal election indictment, Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene accused special counsel Jack Smith, who led the federal indictments against Mr Trump of “abusing his power, the power of the special counsel, and the power of the Department of Injustice.”
Despite the legal battles and his complaints, Mr Trump has maintained a sizable lead in a crowded GOP field.
As of Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight polling shows that the former president has 53 per cent of the vote while the next closest, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, has only 15 per cent.
Even Mr Trump has acknowledged the possibility that he could be sent to prison, saying that he would still run for president from behind bars: “There’s nothing in the Constitution to say that it could, and not at all. And even the radical left crazies are saying, no, that wouldn’t stop.”
As more and more trial dates have been scheduled, Mr Trump will have to juggle his presidential campaign with his court appearances.
