Donald Trump rails against electoral fraud in the 2024 election without evidence and threatens prison sentences

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump is again threatening to abuse his executive power to throw political opponents in jail if he is elected this fall and voter fraud is found in the 2024 election. This fall, he is expanding his target list to include poll workers and election aides.

In a post for Truth Social late Saturday, Trump said his lawyers and other allies were monitoring polling places for alleged “fraud,” repeating false claims he has long made about the 2020 election.

This election “will be under the strictest professional scrutiny and IF I WIN, the people who CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Trump threatened, repeating allegations of “crooked fraud” in the 2020 election that have been refuted by officials from both parties, including members of the Trump administration. Trump and other Republicans have filed a barrage of lawsuits over the 2020 presidential election, none of which have been successful.

Documented cases of electoral fraud are rare across the country.

Trump – a convicted felon who has been charged in four separate criminal cases, including two for alleged attempts to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden – has made “retaliation” a central theme of his 2024 campaign, with his threats extending to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his current election opponent.

Numerous officials from both parties also referred to Trump's statements that he would be a dictator “from day one” in his second term.

“He said he wanted to override the Constitution,” said Ammar Moussa, rapid response director for the Harris campaign. “Now he's publicly promising to lock up his political opponents. And now he has the blueprint and the Supreme Court to let him do whatever he wants. Take him seriously.”

Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump's threats ranged from criminal prosecution of former military personnel to Biden himself over his handling of classified information.

He has also begun targeting Harris after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket. During a speech in Wisconsin on Saturday, Trump called for an “amendment” to the 25th Amendment to allow the firing of a vice president who tries to “cover up the president's incompetence.” That seems politically impossible; amending the U.S. Constitution requires the approval of a two-thirds majority in Congress and a three-quarters majority in state legislatures.

Biden does not see himself as incapacitated and said he made the decision to drop out of the presidential race of his own accord.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said: “Please know that these legal consequences also extend to lawyers, political activists, donors, illegal voters, and corrupt election officials. All those who behave unscrupulously will be tracked down, caught, and prosecuted at all levels.”

One target, former House Republican leader Liz Cheney, told ABC's “This Week” that the Republican Party had nominated a “tainted” person, referring to the near-insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. “We see it on a daily basis, someone who was willing to use violence to try to seize power, to stay in power,” Cheney told ABC. The former president has not been charged with inciting the Capitol insurrection.

Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Harris last week.

Trump's latest threat comes just days before crucial events in the 2024 election cycle, including Tuesday's debate with Harris. Early voting also begins in several states later this month.

In May, a New York jury convicted him of paying hush money to cover up an encounter with a porn star and prevent voters from finding out about it shortly before the 2016 election. Trump is awaiting sentencing in that case, which has been postponed until after Election Day on November 5.

Trump's latest threats came shortly after what his campaign described as a press conference in which Trump did not take questions from reporters. For nearly 50 minutes, he railed against his various accusers, particularly women who accused him of inappropriate behavior.

The event followed a hearing on Trump's appeal of a jury verdict in which he was found guilty of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump also raised the idea of ​​criminal prosecution of his opponents in a speech to the Economic Club of New York last week, protesting the legal action against him.

“You must always remember that the game can also be played by two people,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump rails against voter fraud in 2024 election without evidence