Trump Says He ‘Deserves a Revenge Tour’ If Re-Elected

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Trump said that if re-elected he would not go on a revenge tour even though he was ‘entitled’ to one. He went on a tirade against the New York Times and Washington Post for their reporting on Russiagate. The former president made comments to Hugh Hewitt. Loading Something is loading.

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Former President Donald Trump has waged war against Republicans who voted for his impeachment in 2021 but has vowed not to use the same payback tactics against his political enemies if re-elected to the White House in 2024.

“I’m not going to do that because I want to move our country forward,” he said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program. “I would be entitled to a revenge tour, if you want to know the truth, but I wouldn’t do that. I would want to strengthen our border, get inflation down, build our economy up.”

Trump’s comments come as the race for the 2024 Republican nomination is not yet well underway. At least 17 Republicans are considering a run, though former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is the only person other than Trump to make it clear she will enter the race.

The former president spoke with Hewitt for more than 30 minutes on Thursday, and the conservative host asked him if he plans to retaliate against his opponents if re-elected. In 2022, Axios reported that Trump planned to overhaul the federal government to make it easier to fire dishonest career employees, which he often refers to as the “deep state.”

He also told Republicans last spring that his team was “back with a vengeance,” according to Yahoo News, and would consider pardoning people convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. in the Capitol.

“Some are worried that if you’re re-elected president you’re going to use your powers to get revenge on people who have been after you since 2016 and 2015,” Hewitt said Thursday. “What do you say to people who say you will abuse the office if re-elected?”

Trump pointed to a “devastating” Columbia Journalism Review series released this week called “The Press Versus the President.” It criticized news outlets for “serious flaws” in their reporting trying to prove that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to alter the results of the 2016 election.

“I was a victim,” he told Hewitt. “And everyone already knew but now they really know.”

The Washington Post and New York Times both received Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting in 2018 for their stories about Russian interference in the 2016 election, though some of the Washington Post’s pieces later contain retractions or corrections and no federal investigation has turned up evidence of collusion. The New York Times told the Columbia Journalism Review that it stood by its reporting.

Trump said he plans to sue to get the outlets back their Pulitzer Prizes, calling the Washington Post “Washington Compost.” In October 2021, Trump asked the Pulitzers to revoke the prizes, but the organization rejected him last year following an independent review.

“The Pulitzer Prize should be for good reporting, for accurate reporting, congratulations,” Trump told Hewitt. “Well, they got it really wrong.”

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