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Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends UFC 302 at the Prudential Center on June 1, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey.
CNN
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Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed in a new interview that he did not call for jailing for the imprisonment of his 2016 Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Trump, who faces prison time after being convicted last week of 34 counts of falsifying business records, was asked in an interview broadcast Sunday on Fox News about how he “said… ‘lock up -la’” in relationship with Clinton but did not imprison her when he was president.
In his response, Trump said he decided that jailing Clinton “would have been a terrible thing.” Then he added: “I didn’t say ‘lock her up’, but people would all say ‘lock her up, lock her up’.”
Facts First: Trump’s claim that “I didn’t say ‘lock her up'” is false. He called for Clinton’s imprisonment on several occasions, including using the phrase “lock her up.”
Trump often used such rhetoric in criticizing Clinton’s email practices as secretary of state during the Obama administration, leading to a federal investigation. She has never been charged with a crime.
During campaign rallies in 2016, Trump sometimes interrupted his remarks as his supporters chanted “lock her up,” giving the chants time to continue. On other occasions, he himself explicitly repeated these words.
“For what she did, they should lock her up,” Trump said after the crowd chanted “lock her up” at an October 2016 rally in North Carolina.
“Locking him up is a good idea,” he said at an October 2016 rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump also explicitly called for Clinton’s imprisonment using different wording.
“Hillary Clinton needs to go to jail, okay? She needs to go to jail,” he said in a June 2016 speech in California. “She needs to go to jail,” he repeated during a speech in October 2016 in Florida. And during a presidential debate in October 2016, after Clinton said, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Trump responded : “Because you would be in prison. ”
Trump softened his rhetoric shortly after beating Clinton in the election, saying he didn’t want to hurt her and had no desire to sue her. However, during his 2020 re-election campaign, he again called for “locking him up.”
“You should lock him up, I’ll tell you that,” he said at a January 2020 rally in Ohio. At an October 2020 rally in Georgia, after the crowd chanted “lock them up” in relation to the Biden family, Trump said, “You should lock them up.” Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary.