By
Now that Lara Trump is helping lead the Republican National Committee, the former president’s daughter-in-law appears to have made election denialism a priority for the party. But as it turns out, that’s not the RNC co-chair’s only focus.
Consider the message Lara Trump recently shared with an audience about her father-in-law:
“He showed us a whole lot that we didn’t know was going on — within the media, within Washington, D.C. He exposed a lot of people. So they have to do everything they can to keep him out of that White House ’cause they know Donald Trump gets in for four more years, the jig is up for them. The gloves are off. There are no holds barred here. He is going full-throttle. He’s not worried about winning another election [in 2028]. It’s four years of scorched earth when Donald Trump retakes the White House.”
A video of the comments suggests she wasn’t kidding.
So, as Lara Trump sees it, powerful forces are working to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office, not because they disagree with him or his vision, but because they’re afraid that the Republican will abuse his powers and execute a retaliatory agenda against his perceived foes.
Those fears, Lara Trump suggested, are justified — because her father-in-law will go “scorched earth” starting in 2025.
The RNC co-chair’s rhetoric, for what it’s worth, is very easy to believe. Indeed, Donald Trump hasn’t been especially subtle about his authoritarian-style ambitions in a prospective second term.
As regular readers know, presumptive Republican nominee, with little subtlety, has touted a radical vision for the United States — up to and including his stated intentions to create a “Day One” dictatorship after taking office.
Under the former president’s preferred approach, he would also pardon politically aligned violent criminals, seize control of government departments and agencies that have historically operated with independence, enact radical anti-immigration plans, use government powers to crack down on journalists, and hire right-wing lawyers who would be positioned to help Trump politicize federal law enforcement and exact revenge against his perceived political foes.
And did I mention that Trump has argued that presidents should be allowed to commit crimes with impunity? Because he’s done that, too.
In other words, when Lara Trump boasts that her father-in-law will focus on retribution and retaliation if voters return him to the White House, there’s no reason to doubt her sincerity.
This is, however, a deeply strange message to share with the public as the general-election phase of the 2024 race takes shape.
As New York magazine’s Jon Chait explained, “Presidential candidates usually promise that everybody will be happy if they win. One of the historically unusual aspects of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is that he is promising to punish his political enemies in the event he gains power. ‘I am your warrior, I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,’ he vowed last year.”
His daughter-in-law is pushing an eerily similar message from her influential position at the RNC.
Voters looking for a candidate who cares far more about revenge than governing have a clear choice.