Topline
Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he believes “the enemy from within” is the biggest threat for “chaos” on Election Day and suggested the National Guard or military be used against them—a comment that immediately drew criticism from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said former President Donald Trump’s words “should alarm … [+]
Key Facts
When Trump was asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo whether he was concerned about “chaos on Election Day” from “outside agitators,” Trump said he thinks the “bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in destroying our country.”
Trump went on to say the “bad people” from within include “radical left lunatics,” and that “it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military.”
Harris’ campaign released a statement Sunday afternoon saying Trump’s comments suggesting “his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries”—along with his past comments about being “a dictator on ‘day one’” and terminating the Constitution—“should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security.”
Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to criticize Trump’s comment, saying “His own advisors have warned that he’s unfit to ever step foot inside the Oval Office again … Trump is too risky for us to take a chance on.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, stood by the comments in a statement to Forbes, saying Trump “is 100% correct—those who seek to undermine democracy by sowing chaos in our elections are a direct threat, just like the terrorist from Afghanistan that was arrested for plotting multiple attacks on Election Day within the United States” (an Afghan national was charged last week with allegedly plotting Election Day attacks).
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Crucial Quote
“I always say, we have two enemies,” Trump said. “We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.”
Key Background
The November election between Trump and Harris—which is just 23 days away—is expected to be highly contested. Throughout his campaign, Trump has toyed with the idea of using the U.S. military on American soil rather than overseas, the Associated Press reported, suggesting he could station troops at the U.S. borders and use them more for confronting civil unrest. He has made removing undocumented immigrants from the country a key campaign message of his and has suggested military or National Guard personnel could assist with deportations, saying as recently as Friday in Colorado, “we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.” Democrats have criticized Trump’s extreme language and anti-immigration rhetoric. When Trump was spreading false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “spreading this kind of hateful conspiracy theories is indeed very dangerous.” Harris similarly denounced Trump’s “hateful” rhetoric, saying in September, “when you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning.”
Big Number
2.4 points. That’s how much Harris is leading Trump by as of Sunday at 4 p.m. EDT, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average. RealClearPolitics’ polling center shows the race slightly closer, with Harris leading Trump by an average of 1.7 points.
Tangent
Trump also used the phrase “enemy from within” on Saturday to refer to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a longtime Trump foe who is running for Senate. Trump said at a rally in Coachella, California, that Schiff “conceived of the Russia hoax” and is “a sick person.” Schiff responded to the comments on X, saying: “Yet another nonsensical rant about me filled with tired insults, lies about voting booths, and more … Seriously, Donald. Why are you so obsessed with me?”
