Donald Trump says it’s ‘very possible’ he’ll jail political opponents

Donald Trump has raised the possibility of imprisoning his political opponents if he regains the White House in November.

Trump made the comments days after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a secret payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the election of 2016. He denied being guilty of any wrongdoing.

Speaking to conservative newspaper Newsmax on Tuesday, Trump added to his recent false claims that he never called for his 2016 election rival, Hillary Clinton, to be imprisoned.

“I said, ‘Wouldn’t that be really bad?…Wouldn’t it be terrible to throw out the president’s wife and the former secretary of state – think about it, the former secretary of state – but the president’s wife in prison? Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing? » Trump said.

“But they want to do it,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee added, apparently referring to his political opponents. “So, you know, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us down, and it’s very possible that this has to happen to them.”

On Newsmax, Trump said the charges against him in New York set a “terrible precedent for our country.”

“Does that mean the next president will do this to them?” » he said, apparently referring to his opponents. “That’s really the question.”

Trump also said he “got a lot of credit” for not going after Clinton as president.

“Some people said I should have done it, but, you know, it could have, it would have been very easy to do it, but I thought it would be a terrible precedent for our country,” Trump said .

“And now, whoever it is, you’re going to have to look at things very differently. This is a very bad path that they’re leading us down as a country.”

Trump has repeatedly said the New York case was rigged and falsely tied Joe Biden to the prosecution. The president condemned Trump’s efforts to undermine the justice system. News week We have reached out to the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment via email.

Trump “wants you to believe that everything is rigged,” Biden said at a campaign event in Greenwich, Connecticut, on Monday. “But nothing could be further from the truth. The facts are that Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was an affair of state, even though he said it was Biden who organized that, and not a federal matter.”

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced July 11 by Judge Juan M. Merchan. Each of the counts of falsifying business records carries a sentence of up to four years in prison. However, it is unclear whether prosecutors intend to seek prison time or whether Merchan would sentence him behind bars, even if that is the recommendation.

Trump is also charged in three other criminal cases, but it is unclear whether any of them will go to trial before November.

Updated 06/05/24, 3:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add additional information.