'This is campaign talk': GOP lawmaker shrugs off Trump's authoritarian threats
Former President Donald Trump didn't directly answer Sean Hannity's interview question about whether he would act as a dictator and punish his political enemies if given a second term, just saying that he would do some dictatorial things on "day one" and then not after that. But according to Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), you shouldn't take any of that seriously.
Burchett's comments, to CNN's Phil Mattingly on Wednesday morning, came amid a broader discussion about Trump's second-term plans, which have set off alarm bells with political experts as he and his allies strategize how to transform the civil service into a personal army and turn the Justice Department against political rivals.
"What I am interested in is the reporting about what he would do in a second term and the town hall with Sean Hannity last night, he is trying to get him to say that he will not abuse the law, not break the law in his second term, not be a dictator in his second term, and the former president declines to really say that," said Mattingly. "Does that concern you?"
"Well, not really," said Burchett, even as he acknowledged that "I didn't watch it... I got other things going on."
"Listen, he is a New Yorker. He is a Yankee," said Buchett. "I am from the South. I say 'excuse me' and 'I'm sorry' and try not to interrupt you. He has a lot of bravado as a New Yorker. He is going to be surrounded with attorneys. He can't just say it and make it happen. There is a process that everything goes through. And we have a judicial system and we have a Justice Department who I think is corrupted, but, you know, so I don't know. I would assume that he would not be able to do any of that."
Trump's promises to use the DOJ for revenge, Burchett added, are just "what you say during elections. We are going to get this, do this, everybody gets riled up and write their checks and they run to the polls and vote for you, but the reality is that, you know, this is campaign talk and that's generally what it is."
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