Trump: US 'Temperature Has to Be Brought Down'

He tells Fox he'll help do so, continues to denounce FBI's 'scam' search
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 15, 2022 12:24 PM CDT
Trump: US 'Temperature Has to Be Brought Down'
Former President Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference Friday, June 17, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.   (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Donald Trump spoke to Fox News Digital Monday and said the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago residence has triggered levels of anger in the country he's never before seen. The "temperature has to be brought down," he said, per Fox News. The former president pledged to help with that, but as the Hill notes, he did not temper his criticism of the "scam" search itself.

  • “There has never been a time like this where law enforcement has been used to break into the house of a former president of the United States, and there is tremendous anger in the country—at a level that has never been seen before, other than during very perilous times,” Trump said.
  • “Whatever we can do to help—because the temperature has to be brought down in the country,” Trump said, adding that his aides have reached out to the Justice Department. “If it isn’t, terrible things are going to happen.”
  • "The country is in a very dangerous position," Trump warned. "There is tremendous anger, like I've never seen before, over all of the scams, and this new one—years of scams and witch hunts, and now this." He also repeated his suggestion that agents might have planted evidence against him.

  • Message to Garland: The New York Times previously reported that a "person close to Trump" reached out to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday—before Garland's public address about the search and his decision to unseal the warrant—and conveyed the message, “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?”
  • One view: After the Times report, some Trump critics saw the offer as more of a veiled threat, per Insider. "Just a normal former president hinting to the current attorney general of the United States—who was about to make an announcement about the investigation into the former president—that he can fan the flames of violence, before asking, 'What can I do to reduce the heat?'" tweeted a sarcastic Robert Maguire of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
  • Increased threats: Meanwhile, the FBI says it has increased security at its offices around the country amid a continuing spike in threats—and incidents like this one—in the wake of the search, reports USA Today.
(More Donald Trump stories.)

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