Trump warns of ‘violence’ if Republicans lose midterm polls
SCAREMONGERING US prez tells evangelical leaders that Democrats will reverse his achievements ‘overnight’
WASHINGTON:US President Donald Trump has warned evangelical leaders that Republicans losing control of Congress in the midterm elections will result in Democrats overturning his achievements “quickly and violently”.
At a closed-door meeting with evangelist leaders at the White House on Monday, Trump said everything on his agenda would be at stake if Republicans lose in November, according to an audiotape of the meeting obtained by The New York Times.
“They will overturn everything that we’ve done, and they’ll do it quickly and violently, and violently,” Trump said, according to a Times report.
“There’s violence. When you look at antifa, and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people,” he said, referring to a group of aggressive anti-fascist activists.
When contacted by the Times, a White House spokesman declined to elaborate on what Trump meant.
The control of both chambers of Congress is at stake in the midterm elections, and there are fears that if Democrats take back the House of Representatives and the Senate from the Republicans, they could not only stymie Trump’s legislative agenda but could also move towards impeaching him.
Evangelicals are a key constituency for Trump and he appealed to them to use their pulpits to urge congregants to go vote in the November elections.
“I think we’re doing very well, and I think we’re popular, but there’s a real question as to whether people are going to vote if I’m not on the ballot,” he said.
“I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote,” Trump said. “Because if they don’t... we’re going to have a miserable two years and we’re going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election — you’re one election away from losing everything you’ve got.”
WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL MCGAHN TO LEAVE POST
White House counsel Don McGahn, whose time serving President Donald Trump has been marked by tension related to the investigation of Russian election interference, will leave the job in the coming weeks.
“White House Counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his position in the fall, shortly after the confirmation (hopefully) of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!”
McGahn voluntarily cooperated with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team in a continuing investigation that already has resulted in guilty pleas, indictments and cooperation deals and one conviction for several Trump insiders.