President Trump advocated jailing his Democratic opponent Joseph R. Biden, calling for his rival’s incarceration Friday while addressing supporters at a reelection campaign rally in Macon, Georgia.
Mr. Trump also suggested jailing Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the previous White House race, four years after chants of “lock her up” were a hallmark of the president’s first campaign.
The president called for incarcerating Mrs. Clinton as well as “the Bidens” —presumably meaning the candidate and his son, Hunter Biden — as he was accusing his opponent’s family of corruption.
“That Biden family — and others — but that Biden family is corrupt. It’s a corrupt family,” Mr. Trump alleged.
Audience members attending the Trump rally then began chanting, prompting the president to acknowledge — and agree with — apparent calls from some in the crowd to put his political rival in prison.
“Lock him up,” Mr. Trump laughed as the calls from the crowd swelled. “You should lock them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary. Lock ’em up.”
“Can you imagine if my kids did what this guy Hunter has done?” Mr. Trump asked. “I won’t go too deep into the family. I’m not looking to insult everybody. But honestly, in my opinion, it’s a criminal enterprise.”
Chants of “lock her up” were a frequent occurrence at Trump rallies in 2016 when the future president regularly accused Mrs. Clinton of criminality over her previous use of a private email server.
Mrs. Clinton used the server to handle classified emails while secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, but the FBI decided not to charge her with any possible related crimes.
Four years later, Mr. Trump laid into his current Democratic challenger and his son Friday amid fellow Republicans promoting emails purportedly found on a laptop belonging to the younger Biden.
Several news outlets reported Friday that the FBI is investigating whether the emails are part of a Russian influence operation. Mr. Trump’s rival told reporters Friday it was a “smear campaign.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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