Trump suggests using military on 'enemy within'. Harris calls him 'unstable and unhinged'

Alarm bells are clanging across the United States this week after Donald Trump said he would use the US military to go after his political opponents, calling them the “enemy within” who are “more dangerous than China or Russia”.In an interview on Fox News and remarks at a campaign event, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) supremo expanded his increasingly ominous tirade of using the military against illegal immigrants to threaten domestic opponents, calling them “scum” who hated the United States.He singled out California Congressman Adam Schiff, a Democrat who led the impeachment trial against him, and who is on track to win the Senate seat from a state Trump compared unfavourably to China, whose authoritarian system and rule he praised.Asked in a Fox News interview about the potential disruptions on Election Day, Trump quickly pivoted to the theme of “enemy within”, saying, “I think the bigger problem are the people from within… we have some very bad people… we have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the - and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military.”A day later, he closed his remarks to a crowd at what was billed as a town hall in Pennsylvania with a stark message about his political opponents.“They are so bad and frankly, they’re evil,” Trump said. “They’re evil. What they’ve done, they’ve weaponised, they’ve weaponised our elections. They’ve done things that nobody thought was even possible.” medium114274330Huge risk if Trump re-electedThe remarks jolted the political class, including many Republican anti-Trumpers, with Democrats rushing to alert voters to the threat. Kamala Harris played a montage of Trump’s comments at a rally, warning that “a second Trump term is a huge risk... He is increasingly unstable and unhinged. And he is out for unchecked power and control over your lives.”Ian Bassin, a former associate White House counsel under Barack Obama who leads the advocacy group Protect Democracy, said, “There is not a case in American history where a presidential candidate has run for office on a promise that they would exact retribution against anyone they perceive as not supporting them in the campaign,” according to The New York Times.“It’s so fundamentally, outrageously beyond the pale of how this country has worked that it’s hard to articulate how insane it is,” he said. medium114274501According to his former aides, Trump has previously expressed a desire to use the military to quell internal dissent and protests, including when he was president before, when he was held back by senior generals and cabinet members. Some of them are now warning that there will be no guardrails on him if he is elected again since he will make sure he has pliable aides and generals. “We should take Trump’s comments about using the military against American citizens very seriously. There were moments in 2020 where he wanted to use the National Guard against citizens. I don’t believe he has the authority under the law to use the military. But Trump has learned the key is getting people around you who will do your bidding and not push back,” warned Mark Esper, who was defence secretary in the Trump administration. Another top retired general went on TV to warn that Trump could use the military in any manner he wanted if he is elected since the Supreme Court has effectively given him immunity.Trump has described such military leaders critical of him as “woke generals” and promised to rid the military of them if he is elected in a transparent sign that he prefers pliable commanders to do his bidding in an imperial presidency.Trump is particularly agitated about liberal Democratic states such as California and Colorado which are beyond MAGA reach — partly on account of their diversity — and he has sought to rouse his base there with overheated accounts of illegal immigrants running riot and voter fraud in such states.“They send millions and millions of ballots all over the place …In California, you don’t have anything like a voting booth. They take ballots and they just send them all over the place. They come back and they say, oh, somebody won by 5m votes,” he complained. “The worst people are the enemies from within, the sleaze bags, the guy that you’re going to elect to the Senate, shifty Adam Schiff. He’s a major low-life,” Trump raged.Watch: Trump 'unhinged' or answer to America's woes?medium nocaption114267087Kamala to go on adversarial Fox NewsWith Trump escalating the threats, the Harris campaign is not taking them lying down. As Trump spoke Monday (October 14) night, Harris stood in a stadium at the opposite end of Pennsylvania where she took the unusual step of playing an extended video montage of Trump vowing to go after those who oppose him, which included his comments about the possibility of military action against the “enemy within.”“He’s talking about, he considers anyone who doesn’t support him or will not bend to his will an enemy of our country,” she told several thousand supporters at a rally. “He is saying that he would use the military to go after them.”Harris is also set to step into the proverbial lion’s den this week with interviews on Fox News and Joe Rogan’s podcast that will have both her supporters and critics on the edge of their seats.medium nocaption114276734Pilloried by Trump for avoiding one-on-one interviews with adversarial media, the Harris campaign is now taunting the MAGA supremo for the same. Trump himself has said he would sit down for an interview with Rogan, whose expansive podcast has the biggest audience in the US, but the Harris campaign is upstaging him with an outreach to the talk jock in an effort to woo a male demographic where the MAGA supremo is outperforming her.No date has been set for 'The Rogan Experience' for either candidate, but Harris is set to be interviewed on Wednesday (October 16) by Brett Baier on Fox News, which is largely Trumpleaning, with some of its hosts pathologically against Harris.Harris appearing on what he regards as his home turf enraged Trump, who complained on Monday that Fox News has “totally lost its way” by giving voice to Democrats. Trump is also upset that some Fox anchors, seen as more credible than others, are starting to get tough on him.There is growing concern among several previously pro-Trump media figures in recent days as the former president has ratcheted up his racist and sexist harangue. Geraldo Riviera, a talk-show host who had previously backed Trump, is among those who announced this week that he will not be voting for the MAGA hero because, among other things, Trump (and his veep running mate JD Vance) “constantly demonise undocumented immigrants, falsely attributing to them a crime wave that does not exist”.Chidananand Rajdhatta is US correspondent for TOI