Trump threatens to jail adversaries in rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate

With just days to go before his first and likely only  debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behaviour” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny. “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote, again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.

“Please beware,” he went on, “that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behaviour will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country." Trump's message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term.

There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election; in fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly. Just days ago, Trump himself acknowledged in a podcast interview that he had indeed “lost by a whisker.” While Trump's campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inf lat ion and border securi ty, Trump in recent days has veered far off course.

On Friday, he delivered a stunning statement to news cameras in which he brought up a string of past allegations of sexual misconduct, describing several in graphic detail, even as he denied his accusers' allegations. Earlier, he had voluntarily appeared in court for a hearing on the appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, turning focus to his legal woes in the campaign's final stretch.