Donald Trump Reiterates Attacks On The “Enemy From Within” During Friendly Fox News Town Hall
Donald Trump once again attacked the “enemy from within” at a pre-taped Fox News town hall that aired this morning, as he called domestic political opponents a greater threat than even foreign adversaries.
Trump was asked about his remarks earlier in the week to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
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“We have two enemies. We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within. And the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia, and all those countries, because if you have a smart president, he can handle them.”
“The thing that is tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff. I call him the enemy from within.”
At the town hall, which was taped on Tuesday and ran on Fox News today, moderator Harris Faulkner brought up those remarks and played a clip. But what wasn’t played was Trump’s comment to Bartiromo that the U.S. military could be enlisted to handle problems on Election Day from “radical left lunatics.”
“I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” Trump told Bartiromo.
At the town hall, Faulker said, “Mr. President, Kamala Harris has said that you sounded unhinged, and unchecked power was in our future.”
Trump said, “I thought it was a nice presentation.” The audience laughed.
He added, “It is the enemy from within, and they are very dangerous. They’re Marxists and communists and fascists, and they’re sick.”
He again identified Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) as one figure. “If you have a smart president, they can be handled,” Trump said. “The more difficult are, the Pelosis, these people they are so sick. And they are so evil.”
He added, “They were saying I was like threatening. I am not threatening anybody. They are the ones doing the threatening. They are doing phony investigations. I’ve been investigated more than Alphonse Capone…It’s called weaponization of government. It’s a terrible thing. They’re the threat to democracy.”
Faulkner moved on to another question.
The town hall was to be focused on issues impacting women, and featured an all-women audience. But is was friendly territory for Trump, as he received a standing ovation when he entered the venue in Cumming, GA.
Harris has chided Trump over the remark, and her campaign is producing an ad over it. Mark Esper, who served as Trump’s secretary of defense, told CNN that he was concerned over the U.S. military for the purposes of domestic law enforcement.
Harris and Trump have both seized on friendly media outlets and forums, but the real battle in the final weeks of the campaign are the small share of undecided voters. Harris is appearing this evening for her first ever interview with Fox News, as she will be interviewed by Bret Baier for Special Report.
At the Fox News town hall, Trump was challenged by a woman who said, “Facing the question of abortion. Women are entitled to do what they want to and need to do with their bodies, including their unborn. That’s on them regardless of the circumstance. Some are necessary to save their own lives. Why is the government involved in women’s basic rights?”
Trump, whose appointment of three Supreme Court justices gave conservatives enough votes to over turn Roe vs. Wade in 2022, claimed that “every legal scholar, the great ones, every lawyer but the Democrats, the Republicans, the liberals, the conservatives, they wanted it brought out of the federal government and brought back to the states.”
The repeal of Roe vs. Wade likely helped drive Democratic turnout in the midterms that year, and Kamala Harris’ campaign has made reproductive rights a major focus of their efforts, pointing to states like Georgia where abortion laws have delayed emergency medical care, according to a recent report in ProPublica.
Trump said that some of the anti-abortion state laws that have been passed are “too tough,” and “are going to be redone because there’s already a movement in those states.”
He also called himself the “father of IVF,” trying to counter a backlash to an Alabama Supreme Court decision that found that embryos created through in-vitro fertilization were considered humans.
Harris told reporters later, “I found it quite bizarre actually that he called himself the ‘father of IVF,’ and if what he meant is taking responsibility, then yeah, he should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state.”
Other questions at the Trump town hall touched on the border, transgender athletes and inflation, all issues that the former president’s campaign has put front and center.
CNN reported that Fox News edited out portions of the town hall, including a moment when the crowd started to chant Trump’s name, and another moment when a woman questioner told the president that she was voting for him. Trump has bashed CBS News and 60 Minutes over an edit that the show made to one of Kamala Harris’ answers in an interview that aired last week.
The make up of the town hall crowd was clear throughout the event, even if they were not identified as Trump supporters. There was huge applause when Trump called Joe Biden the “worst president in history” and Kamala Harris “the worst vice president.”
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