Former President Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric about a possible second term, urging his supporters to "get out" and "fight like hell." While Trump has warned his MAGA fans of dire consequences if they don't, experts say he should be more concerned about the legal consequences of his commands.
Trump's latest remarks came at a rally in Rapid City, South Dakota Friday night, where he accused President Joe Biden of trying to interfere in the 2024 election. The former president blamed his successor for the 91 criminal charges across four criminal cases he currently faces and claimed that his supporters would be at risk of losing their country if they didn't "fight together", CNN reported.
"I'm leading Biden in all these polls," Trump said in the speech. "Every time I have a good poll, they give me another indictment… If you're the president, you're the chief law enforcement officer of the country."
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Trump continued to paint a bleak picture of the current state of the country, criticizing the Biden administration for having "no borders" and "dishonest elections". He even warned of an "invasion pouring into the country" when discussing migrants at the southern border.
But even more concerning was the former president's portrayal of what could occur if he were to secure a second term.
"What you do is make it impossible for people to win an election," Trump told his supporters. "It's called election interference at a level never seen before and we have to stop it… If they're allowed to do it, that means the Republicans are allowed to do it and then you get into this situation which is really very bad and dangerous for our country."
The leading Republican candidate, who accepted the endorsement of Gov. Kristi Noem, underscored the potential for a second term in the presidency marked by even greater extremism and a disregard for the principles of law compared to his first term.
It comes as no surprise though that the ex-president, if elected again, is hinting at leveraging presidential authority to do as he pleases.
This was reflected in both of his indictments, including his efforts to subvert the election and his retention of classified documents following his departure from the White House.
Trump has repeatedly claimed in interviews that he had the authority to do "whatever" he wanted with classified documents citing the Presidential Records Act as his protection, but legal experts have asserted that the former president is misrepresenting his authority.
"The only real legal consequence for these statements would be if a judge issued a gag order, saying he's intimidating witnesses or potential jurors."
While it's true that a sitting president can't be prosecuted, but if you are looking at the Presidential Records Act, for instance, it actually does apply to current and former presidents, Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Salon.
"You can't just take records home with you," Rahmani said. "This statement about unrestricted authority is incorrect, it's both a red herring and misleading. You see that in [the] Judge Chutkan ruling, in which she pointed out that 'Presidents are not kings.' Presidents have to comply with the law."
Such statements can be used against Trump, and "saying the law doesn't really apply to him might turn off a lot of jurors," he added.
Throughout his speech, Trump continued to paint himself as a victim of "corrupt and blatant" election interference — even claiming that the justice department indicted him for nothing, but free speech.
"I said the election was rigged and stolen, which it was and everybody knows that," Trump said. Everybody knows that. Free speech."
Trump's false claims about the election being stolen could be used in a lawsuit demanding he be disqualified from public office for violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Rahmani explained.
"There are suits filed saying he should be disqualified from holding office under the 14th Amendment, and maybe these types of statements will help those, but the only real legal consequence for these statements would be if a judge issued a gag order, saying he's intimidating witnesses or potential jurors," Rahmani said.
A group of voters in Colorado, including several Republicans, filed a lawsuit last week seeking to keep Trump off the ballot in the state, arguing he is disqualified from holding public office because of his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
