Trump claims he was ‘protective’ of Hillary Clinton while in power and discouraged ‘lock her up’ chants
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Donald Trump has yet again made an unfounded assertion. He claimed that he was "very protective" of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent during the 2016 presidential election.
The twice-impeached former president claimed that despite having the power to harm her, he chose to shield Clinton. He went another step further by asserting that he discouraged his supporters from chanting "lock her up".
Donald Trump says he was 'protective' of Hillary Clinton
Donald Trump was convicted this year by a jury in New York convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to an adult film actress. The former president claims his legal problems are "politically motivated".
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, August 8, Trump said, "With Hillary Clinton, I could have done things to her that would make your head spin."
"I thought it was a very bad thing to take the wife of the president of the United States and put her in jail. Then I see the way they treat me. That's the way it goes. I was very protective of her."
"Nobody would understand that. I think my people understand it. They used to say lock her up, and I would say, 'relax, please'. We won the election. I think it would have been horrible for our country, and we had her between the hammering of all of the files," he continued.
Reality of Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign
Contrary to Donald Trump’s claims, the reality of the 2016 campaign tells a different story. Throughout his rallies, Trump often fueled the "lock her up" chants, pausing to let the crowd’s fervor build and even repeating the phrase himself.
On multiple occasions, he explicitly called for Hillary Clinton's imprisonment, branding her email practices as secretary of state under the Obama administration as criminal, despite no charges ever being filed against her.
In rallies across the country, he repeatedly called for Clinton’s incarceration, famously quipping during a debate, "Because you’d be in jail," when Clinton suggested Trump lacked the temperament to oversee the law.
After the crowd chanted "lock her up" at an October 2016 rally in North Carolina, Trump stated, “For what she’s done, they should lock her up.”
Later that month, at a rally in Pennsylvania, he affirmed, "'Lock her up' is right," per CNN.
Donald Trump’s consistent push for Hillary Clinton's incarceration
Donald Trump also called for Hillary Clinton’s imprisonment with different phrases. He declared in a June 2016 speech in California, "Hillary Clinton has to go to jail, OK? She has to go to jail."
He reiterated this sentiment in an October 2016 speech in Florida, saying, "She has to go to jail."
Although, after winning the election, Trump briefly softened his stance, claiming he didn’t want to hurt Clinton. However, by the time of his 2020 reelection campaign, he revived the "lock her up" mantra, this time expanding it to include the Biden family.
“You should lock them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary,” he said at an October 2020 rally in Georgia.
