Donald Trump is assembling the building blocks for an "authoritarian regime" should he win the 2024 election, according to Politico's Jack Shafer.
Shafer warned readers Tuesday that Trump plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on the first day of his new administration, which would theoretically allow him to use the military to counter any opposing demonstrations.
Shafer argues Trump wants to be more than president, he wants to be "prosecutor, judge, jury and jailer, too."
The editorial comes on the heels of a damning Washington Post report detailing Trump's plans to "punish critics and opponents."
While Trump's plans don't sound like anything new in regards to his inclinations, Shafer warns the former and would-be president is taking actionable steps to weaponize the Justice department.
"[Trump is] building an extra-legal foundation of declarations and appointments to make his 2017-2021 aspirations, which sounded like off-the-cuff ravings at the time, come true," writes Shafer.
"If he has totalitarian designs for mass political trials...the press and his political opponents...should escalate their criticism," argues Shafer.
"By putting us on notice that he plans to punish his past foes — and presumably his future foes — with the justice system, Trump has given us a head start in blocking his future lawlessness. These promises — call them campaign promises — deserve full scrutiny from the press."
Read the full op-ed over at Politico.
