‘Dangerous’: Trump’s escalating rhetoric on 2024 election criticized by officials and experts

(WASHINGTON) — On the presidential debate stage, Donald Trump had the opportunity to admit defeat in the 2020 election. He did not take it.

ABC News anchor David Muir read recent quotes from the former president in which he appeared to admit defeat to President Joe Biden. Last week, for example, he said he “barely lost.”

“I said that?” Trump replied. He went on to say that such remarks were meant sarcastically and that he did not accept his defeat.

Trump’s false claims and complaints about the 2020 election have long been a central theme of his third campaign for the White House, but recently his rhetoric has escalated to threats to prosecute election workers and attempts to sow doubt about the outcome of the 2024 election before a single vote is cast.

In a social media post over the weekend, Trump said he would jail campaign workers, donors, lawyers and others involved in “unconscionable conduct” related to voting in the 2024 election if he won. They would be under his watch and “persecuted on a scale that has unfortunately never been seen before in our country,” he said.

Election officials and legal experts condemned the statement as irresponsible and damaging at a time when civil servants tasked with overseeing elections are facing increasing threats and harassment.

“The comments are despicable and dangerous,” Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, told ABC News.

“The ongoing allegations of fraud are not supported by any reliable evidence – but they will lead millions of people to continue to believe the false claims that the US election was rigged,” said Hasen. “After January 6, 2021, a responsible person would be more cautious with their rhetoric about elections and fraud. Donald Trump is upping the ante.”

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat whose state was an epicenter of false fraud allegations in 2020, is also concerned about the impact of Trump’s statements.

“I’m worried that this is going to upset other people. I think we’ve seen before that words have consequences and meaning,” Fontes told ABC News. “And while we’re concerned, we’re also prepared. Election officials across the country are working with local, state and federal law enforcement to monitor and track threats to make sure our voters and our election officials are safe.”

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State and a Democrat who witnessed protests outside her home after Trump’s 2020 election loss, said her duty is to “rise above the noise and continue to ensure that our elections are fair, secure and accessible and that the results are accurate.”

The Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s Office, which conducts two audits after each election, told ABC News it was “confident in the integrity of county officials and election officials across the state, despite irresponsible statements that are neither based on facts nor supported by evidence.”

Several secretaries of state, including Benson and Fontes, were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify about their preparations for the 2024 elections.

Asked to comment on government officials’ concerns, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump believes that anyone who violates the law should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including criminals who commit voter fraud. There can be no country without free and fair elections. Ask Venezuela.”

Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election have been refuted by his own government officials. Dozens of lawsuits filed by his campaign team or his allies in swing states have failed in court.

But the impact of efforts to overturn the results was felt by election officials and poll workers.

Lawrence Norden, vice president for elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice, reported earlier this year that a survey of local election officials across the U.S. found that 38 percent of them had experienced threats, harassment or abuse. Fifty-four percent said they were concerned about the safety of their colleagues. In some cases, Norden said, the offices have installed bulletproof glass or provided additional safety training for their staff. Some have left their jobs altogether.

Norden said it was “very frustrating” to see Trump’s comments after election officials took steps over the past four years to calm the mood, including efforts to combat disinformation and improve transparency.

“Any political leader, let alone any candidate for president of the United States, who suggests that election officials could be prosecuted is potentially doing two things,” he said. “It’s not going to change the behavior of poll workers or election officials, but it’s potentially encouraging further threats or violence, and it’s laying the groundwork for potentially undermining or challenging election results that you don’t like later.”

In addition to threatening to prosecute election officials, Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of staging a “coup” by nominating Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden dropped out of the race. He has sent mixed messages on voting methods, at times encouraging his supporters to vote any way they can, at others baselessly claiming mail-in ballots are vulnerable to abuse, even though mail-in ballots were used in Florida’s 2020 primary. He has said a focus of his campaign is to make sure Democrats don’t “cheat.”

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When asked during the CNN debate in June whether he would accept the November result, he simply said, “If it’s a fair, legal and good election, absolutely.”

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