Trump vows ‘long term prison sentences’ for people he falsely accuses of ‘cheating’ in the 2020 election

Donald Trump promised to prosecute those who “cheated” during the 2020 election as he intends to keep a close eye on the November race, the Republican nominee said in a late night rant.

The former president vowed in a post shared to X on Saturday night to seek political retribution “when” he retakes the White House for Democrats who, Trump baselessly claimed , committed “rampant cheating and Skullduggery” during the 2020 election.

Despite Trump’s insistence and his team’s legal challenges to the election results across the country, no court has supported these fraud claims.

“CEASE & DESIST,” the former president wrote. “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”

Trump said he plans to watch “the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely” and warned the ballots cast will be “under the closest professional scrutiny.”

“We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials,” Trump warned.

“Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” he continued.

This isn’t the first time this week that Trump has warned about potential “voter fraud.”

Speaking in North Carolina on Friday to the Fraternal Order of Police, hours after the largest police union endorsed him, the former president claimed that Democrats could only win by fraudulent means in November.

“Watch for the voter fraud, because we win without voter fraud,” he said. “We win so easily.”

Trump – who was criminally convicted in May of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence the 2016 election – continued: “You can keep it down just by watching, because, believe it or not, they’re afraid of that badge…They’re afraid of you people. They’re afraid of that more than anything else.”

Also this week, in an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman released Tuesday, Trump repeated familiar election fraud claims — but also admitted that he “lost by a whisker” in 2020.

When Fridman pressed the GOP nominee about how to address independent voters who could be “troubled” by his debunked fraud claims and the ongoing lawsuits in various states over the fake electors scheme, Trump still pointed a finger at the Democrats.

“I think the fraud was on the other side,” he replied. “I think the election was a fraud, and many people felt it was that, and they wanted answers. And when you can’t challenge an election, you have to be able to challenge it, otherwise it’s going to get worse, not better.”

Meanwhile, late last month, Trump faced a superseding indictment in the federal case over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election , after the Supreme Court ruled in July that he has some “immunity” from prosecution . The former president’s legal team has urged the judge to dismiss the case.

Trump faces separate criminal charges for allegedly trying to cheat in the 2020 election, in part, by pressuring state officials in Georgia to “find” him enough votes to overturn his defeat. He denies any wrongdoing in both cases.

On the state level, prosecutors in Arizona , Georgia , Michigan and Wisconsin have been taking on “fake electors” and Trump allies connected to the “alternate” electors scheme. A similar case in Nevada was dismissed in June.

Trump’s heated post comes three days before he is set to face Kamala Harris in a debate on ABC News, likely the only debate that will happen ahead of the November election.