United States: On Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump published a poll on Truth Social, noting that the word most Americans connect with a prospective second term under his command is “revenge.”
With campaigning heating up ahead of the first Republican nomination race, the post came on the heels of a separate Truth Social message from the former president on Christmas Day, in which he urged his political opponents to “rot in hell.”
The fact that Trump re-posted the survey, which was presented in the shape of a word cloud with “revenge” centrally placed in bright red capital letters, revealed that his self-described “retribution” agenda is very much on his mind as the United States enters an election year.
Trump and many of his supporters have promised to investigate, imprison, and otherwise punish his political opponents if he wins the 2024 presidential election in a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump claimed that he is himself the victim of a revenge campaign orchestrated by Biden and his justice Department.
Trump, the Republican presidential nomination frontrunner, denied any wrongdoing after facing dozens of federal charges, many related to his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Former Trump advisors Steve Bannon and Kash Patel, both of whom remain close to the former president, indicated on a podcast earlier in December that Trump was “dead serious” about seeking retribution on perceived foes.
During a prospective second term, Trump has regularly pledged retaliation against his political opponents, implying that he might authorize federal law enforcement agencies to probe critics.
In a previous December interview with conservative media personality Sean Hannity, Trump swore not to misuse his power or become a dictator “except on day one.”
The Iowa caucus, which kicks off the Republican presidential nomination contest, is set for January 15, and Trump’s allies and he himself will be hosting a slew of campaign events in the state starting January 3. Taken together, Trump’s comments portend a rough and tumble election season.
Trump also has to face his biggest competition for the Republican Nomination, Nikki Haley, former UN Ambassador, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump released the results of a poll commissioned by DailyMail.com in which participants were asked to provide the word they most connect with Trump’s ambitions for a second term in a social media post on Tuesday.
The findings, displayed as a word cloud, revealed that “revenge” was the most preferred option. The top five were “power,” “dictatorship,” “economy,” and “America.”
Trump termed anyone who disagreed with him politically “thugs” in a Truth Social post published on December 25.
“MAY THEY ROT IN HELL,” Trump wrote on Twitter, adding, “AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez presented Trump’s candidacy as a threat to democracy in a December 21 memo. “He is running a campaign on revenge and retribution – and at the expense of Americans’ freedoms,” she wrote.