Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) dismissed concerns that President-elect Donald Trump would enact retribution on his opponents.
In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Jordan got into a heated exchange with host Dana Bash over Trump’s campaign rhetoric promising to be his supporters’ “retribution.”
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“People talk about retribution; the retribution has been from the other side,” Jordan said. “I’ve been trying to stop retribution for the last… 10 years.”
Bash began to interrupt, saying she would get to that but that her question was about Trump’s vows to enact “retribution.” She asked if he would support Trump using the Justice Department to prosecute perceived enemies.
“He didn’t do it in his first term,” Jordan responded, after which he was interrupted and pressed as to whether he would support retribution in Trump’s second term. Jordan countered by presenting alleged examples of the targeting of political opposition by the Biden administration.
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“I don’t think any of that’s going to happen, because we’re the party who’s against political prosecution,” he said when pressed as to whether Trump’s “retribution” would happen. “We’re the party who’s against going after your opponents using lawfare.”
The two then disagreed over whether Trump’s team supported free speech. A similarly heated exchange ensued over the topic of immigration when Bash pressed Jordan on which illegal immigrants would be deported.
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During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to be his supporters’ “retribution,” floating the prosecution of President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, former Rep. Liz Cheney, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Vice President Kamala Harris, among others.
Trump has portrayed much of this as retaliation for his own prosecution, which he and his supporters allege was politically motivated.