Donald Trump threatened to put “election fraudsters” in prison, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a new rant on Truth Social Tuesday morning. And while this isn’t the first time Trump has targeted the Facebook founder, it’s a troubling sign for the future of American life, given the fact that the former president (and convicted felon) has a very real chance of getting elected again in November.
Trump made the threat against Zuckerberg during a post about the SAVE Act, a piece of legislation being pushed by Republicans that would make it illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections. The problem, of course, is that it’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and study after study shows that there’s no widespread fraud occurring in the U.S. electoral system.
But that didn’t stop Trump from unleashing an incoherent post about the legislation calling the Democrats cheaters. Trump falsely said “illegal migrants” were getting the right to vote and finished off his post by focusing his rage at Zuckerberg, using the term “Zuckerbucks,” a nickname the 45th president has used before.
“All I can say is that if I’m elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time,” Trump wrote on Tuesday. “We already know who you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!”
Trump has railed against Facebook over the past year, insisting the social media giant has conspired against him, even saying Facebook is an “enemy of the people,” on CNBC back in March. But Facebook is rather infamously a place where Trump’s lies are able to flourish and despite the company banning him after the Jan. 6 coup attempt, Trump is free yet again to advertise as much as he likes on the site.
The former president similarly called for Zuckerberg to be prosecuted back in February 2023, writing on Truth Social, “He cheated on the Election(s). The whole system is RIGGED. Why isn’t he being prosecuted? The Democrats only know how to cheat. America isn’t going to take it much longer!”
Trump has repeatedly said he’ll wage a campaign of retribution against perceived enemies if he gets back into the White House, something that would come with virtually no consequences after the Supreme Court ruled Trump has immunity from prosecution for any “official acts.” Recently, the former president amplified a call to set up military tribunals to prosecute former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, whose only “crime” was speaking out against Trump. The former president has also suggested that Gen. Mark Milley should be executed for treason, a comment that received relatively little attention at the time–perhaps a sign that Americans don’t take the former president seriously, despite the fact that he could easily take power again.
Trump is currently leading President Joe Biden in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average, with the former president at 42.1%, Biden at 39.9%, and Independent nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9.5%. And while there’s been pressure from many mainstream Democrats for Biden to drop out of the race after a terrible performance against Trump in a debate two weeks ago, it’s looking very unlikely Biden will step aside to let someone like Kamala Harris take the wheel.
Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen on Election Day, but the fact that a convicted criminal and neo-fascist who tried to overthrow the government is running neck-and-neck with a moderate Democrat is quite a thing to witness. Many people insist it’s too early and nobody should believe the polls that show Trump winning, but it’s not like the polls were wildly off-base in 2020. In fact, the polls heavily favored Biden, who won a relatively close race when you look at the margins in swing states that put him over the top.
For example, Biden won Wisconsin by just 20,682 votes in 2020. A new poll out of Wisconsin by AARP on Tuesday shows Trump at 44%, Biden at 38%, and Robert Kennedy Jr. at 9%. It’s not looking great for people who care about democracy and the rule of law.
