A Brief History of Trump’s Violent Remarks

Updated on November 1 at 9:41 a.m. ET

After the second attempt on his life, Donald Trump accused his political opponents of inspiring the attacks against him with their rhetoric. The reality, however, is that Trump himself has a long record—singular among American presidents of the modern era—of inciting and threatening violence against his fellow citizens, journalists, and anyone he deems his opposition. At a campaign event on October 31, Trump said of former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about it ... when the guns are trained on her face.”

Below is a partial list of his violent comments, from the 2016 presidential campaign until today.

November 2015

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“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”

November 22, 2015, in response to a Fox News host asking about a heckler at Trump’s rally in Alabama the day before

February 2016

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“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, okay? Just knock the hell—I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise.”

February 1, 2016, at a rally in Iowa

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“I would bring back waterboarding. And I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”

February 6, 2016, at a Republican-primary debate

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“I’d like to punch him in the face.”

February 22, 2016, about a protester who disrupted a Las Vegas rally

“They said to me, ‘What do you think of waterboarding?’ I said, ‘I think it’s great, but I don’t think we go far enough.’ It’s true, it’s true—right? We don’t go far enough. We don’t go far enough.”

February 22, 2016, at a rally in Las Vegas

March 2016

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“I think you’d have riots.”

March 16, 2016, on what would happen if he wasn’t nominated at the upcoming Republican National Convention

August 2017

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“You also had people that were very fine people on both sides.”

August 15, 2017, speaking at a press conference about the white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia

October 2018

“Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my guy!”

October 18, 2018, referring to then-Representative Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for physically assaulting a reporter

March 2019

“I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump—I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”

March 12, 2019, in an interview with Breitbart News

May 2020

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

May 29, 2020, posted on Twitter during the protests and riots in Minneapolis after George Floyd was murdered

June 2020

“Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”

June 2020, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s memoir, which described Trump having said this about protesters outside the White House (Trump has denied saying this)

September 2020

“And I’ll tell you something—that’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution when you have crime like this.”

September, 12, 2020, in a Fox News interview, praising police for killing the antifa supporter Michael Reinoehl, who was accused of killing a right-wing protester

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“Stand back and stand by.”

September 29, 2020, addressing the Proud Boys during a presidential debate

January 2021

“I don’t fucking care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”

January 6, 2021, just minutes before addressing the crowd at the Ellipse, Trump shouted this to his advance team, according to testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson (who served as assistant to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration)

“Get smart Republicans. FIGHT!”

January 6, 2021, in a tweet before the election certification took place

“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

January 6, 2021, in claiming that the election was stolen and urging supporters to march to the Capitol

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

January 6, 2021, in a tweet, while rioters at the Capitol were chanting “Hang Mike Pence”

“We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.”

January 6, 2021, in a video message to the insurrectionists at the Capitol

August 2022

“People are so angry at what is taking place. Whatever we can do to help, because the temperature has to be brought down in the country. If it isn’t, terrible things are going to happen.”

August 15, 2022, in a Fox News interview about the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago residence, which uncovered boxes containing classified documents

October 2022

“You take the writer and/or the publisher of the paper … and you say, ‘Who is the leaker? National security.’ And they say, ‘We’re not gonna tell you.’ They say, ‘That’s okay, you’re going to jail.’ And when this person realizes that he is going to be the bride of another prisoner very shortly, he will say, ‘I’d very much like to tell you exactly who that leaker is!’”

October 22, 2022, during a Texas rally

November 2022

“You tell the reporter, ‘Who is it?’ And the reporter will either tell you or not. And if the reporter doesn’t want to tell you, it’s bye-bye, the reporter goes to jail. And when the reporter learns that he’s going to be married in two days to a certain prisoner that’s extremely strong, tough and mean, he will say, ‘You know’ … I think I’m going to give you the information.’”

November 7, 2022, during a rally in Ohio

March 2023

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“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

March 4, 2023, at the Conservative Political Action Committee summit

“What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?”

March 24, 2023, in a middle-of-the-night rant on Truth Social

“2024 is the final battle. It’s going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again.”

March 25, 2023, during a rally in Waco, Texas

April 2023

“Our enemies are desperate to stop us, because they know we are the only ones who can stop them.”

April 27, 2023, during a rally in New Hampshire

August 2023

“IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

August 4, 2023, in a Truth Social post that U.S. prosecutors flagged as an indication that Trump might try to intimidate witnesses in the federal election-subversion case against him

September 2023

“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”

September 22, 2023, on Truth Social, suggesting that General Mark Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be executed

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“Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store. Shot.”

September 29, 2023, speaking at the California Republican Party convention

November 2023

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“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”

November 11, 2023, during a Veterans Day speech

December 2023

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“Except for day one … After that, I’m not a dictator.”

December 5, 2023, during a town hall in Iowa, in response to the Fox News host Sean Hannity asking Trump if he could promise not to abuse power or seek retribution if he wins

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“They’re poisoning the blood of our country.”

December 16, 2023, referring to illegal immigrants during a New Hampshire rally

January 2024

“It’ll be bedlam in the country. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very bad precedent. As we said, it’s the opening of a Pandora’s box.”

January 9, 2024, to a group of reporters after a court hearing in which his team argued that presidential immunity should protect him from criminal prosecution for attempting to subvert the 2020 election

March 2024

“Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”

March 11, 2024, in a Truth Social post promising that he would pardon the January 6 insurrectionists if elected

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“If I don’t get elected … it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

March 16, 2024, during a speech about the U.S. auto-manufacturing industry in Ohio (Trump’s campaign later said that he was referencing a “bloodbath” for the automaker industry)

June 2024

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“Well, revenge does take time. I will say that. And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest.”

June 6, 2024, in an interview with Phil McGraw, host of Dr. Phil

September 2024

“In Colorado, they’re so brazen, they’re taking over sections of the state. And you know, getting them out will be a bloody story. They should have never been allowed to come into our country. Nobody checked them.”

September 7, 2024, at a rally in Wisconsin, referring to his mass-deportation plans

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“If you had one really violent day … one rough hour—and I mean real rough—the word will get out, and it will end immediately.”

September 29, 2024, proposing a violent crackdown by police to deal with crime, during a rally in Pennsylvania

October 2024

“I always say, we have two enemies … We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia, and all these countries … We have some very bad people; we have some sick people, radical-left lunatics. And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by the National Guard—or, if really necessary, by the military.”

October 13, 2024, in a Fox News interview

“It is the enemy from within. And they’re very dangerous—they’re Marxists and Communists and fascists … They’re dangerous for our country. We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they’re so sick; they’re so evil.”

October 15, 2024, during a Fox News town hall

“That was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions—it’s like, hundreds of thousands—it could’ve been the largest group I’ve ever spoken before.”

October 16, 2024, referring to the January 6 insurrection during a Univision town hall