"Haul out the Guillotine," Trump says in fundraising email
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Former President Trump speaks during his campaign rally at Sunset Park on June 9 in Las Vegas, Nev. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Former President Trump in a fundraising email on Wednesday wrote, "Haul out the Guillotine!," as he baselessly accused his political opponents of going after him and his supporters.
The latest: He later sent out another email with the false claim that "they" wanted to sentence him to death.
Why it matters: It's the latest example of the presumptive GOP presidential candidate's calls for violence and retaliation against his political enemies following his historic conviction on 34 felony counts.
- Trump last week said during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he'd have "every right to go after" his political opponents if he's elected in November.
Driving the news: Trump in the fundraising appeal mentioned comedian Kathy Griffin, who in 2017, received blowback over a photoshoot in which she held a replica of Trump's bloodied and severed head.
- "Remember when that Sicko Kathy Griffin made the rounds parading my BEHEADED head when I was President?! The radical-left CHEERED!" Trump said in the fundraising email.
- Griffin was fired from hosting CNN's New Year's Eve coverage in the wake of the incident, and earlier this year she claimed the Justice Department considered charging her for the stunt.
- "The SAD and HORRIFIC TRUTH is that this is STILL the Sick Dream of every Trump-Deranged lunatic out there!" Trump wrote as he sought to rally his supporters.
- "And it's not just me they want gone, THEY'RE REALLY COMING AFTER YOU!"
Zoom in: Trump on Wednesday evening sent a fundraising email with the headings "1 MONTH UNTIL ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE" and "THEY WANT TO SENTENCE ME TO DEATH!"
- It added in reference to his sentence on New York charges: "You know they'd do it if they could, but Crooked Joe's team of lowlifes and radical left thugs will settle for a LIFE SENTENCE.
- "If we fail to have a MASSIVE outpouring of patriotic support - right here, right now - they'll TAKE ME OUT and move on to their real target: YOU!!"
Zoom out: Trump, who was convicted last month in Manhattan criminal court, said in the earlier fundraising email that the guilty verdict "didn't make me flinch."
- Trump, who was indicted in three other criminal cases, has repeatedly cast himself as the victim of politically motivated prosecutors and suggested that he would go after his political opponents if he wins in November.
Go deeper: Trump says he would have "every right to go after" political enemies if elected
Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of Trump's later fundraising email.
