NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump declined to rule out abusing power if he returns to the White House after Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked him Tuesday to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric.
The GOP presidential front-runner has talked about 鈥 referring to them as 鈥渧ermin鈥 鈥 and vowed to if he wins a second term for what he argues are politically motivated prosecutions against him. As Trump has dominated the Republican presidential primary, President Joe Biden has stepped up his own warnings, contending Trump is 鈥
鈥淯nder no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?" Hannity asked Trump in the interview taped in Davenport, Iowa.
鈥淓xcept for day one," Trump responded. 鈥淚 want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.鈥
Trump then repeated his assertion. 鈥淚 love this guy,鈥 he said of the Fox News host. "He says, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e not going to be a dictator, are you?' I said: 'No, no, no, other than day one. We鈥檙e closing the border and we鈥檙e drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I'm not a dictator.'鈥
Earlier in the interview, Hannity had asked Trump if he 鈥渋n any way" had "any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power, to break the law to use the government to go after people.鈥
鈥淵ou mean like they鈥檙e using right now?鈥 Trump replied.
Trump's campaign rhetoric and that include firing large swaths of the federal bureaucracy and targeting his rivals have alarmed Democrats and become a chief election argument for Biden as he prepares for a potential rematch against Trump.
鈥淒onald Trump has been telling us exactly what he will do if he鈥檚 reelected and tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one. Americans should believe him,鈥 Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
, Biden again warned that Trump and his allies are out to 鈥渄estroy鈥 democratic institutions as he assailed the GOP front-runner, who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and is facing criminal charges connected to those efforts.
Trump, meanwhile, has on Biden and argued in a Saturday speech in Iowa that the president is the real 鈥渄estroyer of American democracy" as he repeated his longstanding contention show Biden is misusing the federal justice system to damage his chief political rival.
Trump has promised if he wins.
Hannity, a longtime Trump supporter and adviser, has often seemed to use his interviews to coach the former president to say things that will benefit him politically. The questions Tuesday appeared to be another example of those efforts.
The event had been advertised as a town hall the day before Trump's leading rivals gather at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for . While town halls typically feature audience questions, only Hannity asked questions of Trump on Tuesday. He with Trump in July.
Trump is once again planning to skip the debate and at a fundraiser in Florida instead.
Trump has been dominating his rivals both nationally and in Iowa, which will kick off the election with its caucuses on Jan. 15. That includes Florida Gov. , who has staked his campaign on the first-in-the-nation contest, and former United nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has been gaining momentum following a series of well-reviewed performances at the debates.
DeSantis, who on Saturday completed his , has repeatedly called on Trump to join the debates.
鈥淕et out of your dungeon. Get off the keyboard, stand on the debate stage and let鈥檚 go,鈥 he said Tuesday in Florida.
After the taping, Trump visited the Front Street Pub & Eatery in Davenport, where he stopped by tables and signed red 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 hats, according to video of the event.
