Gov. Doug Burgum on Sunday tried to dial down reaction to Republican president nominee Donald Trump’s Saturday statement on Truth Social that threatened extensive election prosecutions.
Trump on Saturday posted on Truth Social: “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences,” then added: “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Republican governor of North Dakota played down that statement, characterizing Trump’s remarks as “speaking to a concern that Americans have.”
“I think what President Trump is saying, if we have free and fair elections everybody has to follow the rules. And just putting people on notice,” he said.
Host Kristen Welker pressed Burgum about the prosecution threats made in the statement, saying the reason for the fears about election integrity might derive from Trump’s own statements. In response, Burgum portrayed Trump’s statement as merely affirming the need for honest elections.
“I think what’s appropriate is that we keep working hard as a country to make sure that we’ve got a belief in our elections and a trust in our elections,” he told Welker.
Trump, who referred in his statement to “rampant cheating,” has continued to argue that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, though he lost dozens of court cases after the election, and persistent efforts by his supporters to prove there was widespread fraud did not yield evidence of it.
Vice President Kamala Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said that if Trump were to win, he would “use his unchecked power to prosecute his enemies.”
Calling the former president “desperate,” Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer, responded to Trump’s Saturday remarks on X: “We won’t let Donald Trump intimidate us.”
Elias added: “Donald Trump is threatening those of us protecting democracy.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-08 01:19:00
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