Donald Trump says he never called for Hillary Clinton to be arrested, tried and jailed, despite publicly pleading to “lock her up” multiple times over the years.
During an interview on Fox and Friends Weekend Edition on Sunday, the former president acted like he had nothing to do with the calls to imprison Clinton ― calls that were so common during his 2016 run for the Oval Office.
“You famously said, regarding Hillary Clinton, ‘Lock her up.’ You declined to do that as president,” Fox News co-host Will Cain said in an attempt to paint Trump as merciful.
Having been found guilty on 34 felony counts by a jury of his peers himself last Thursday, Trump brazenly lied about chants aimed at his one-time political rival.
“I beat her,” Trump said. “It’s easier when you win. They always said, ‘Lock her up.’ And I could have done it, but I felt it would have been a terrible thing.”
“And then this happened to me, so I may feel differently about it,” he went on. “I can’t tell you, I’m not sure I can answer the question.”
Shifting the blame to his supporters, Trump added, “Hillary Clinton — I didn’t say, ‘Lock her up,’ but the people would all say, ‘Lock her up, lock her up.’ OK. Then we won, and I said pretty openly, I’d say, ‘Alright, come on, just relax. Let’s go. We gotta make our country great.’”
The Republican’s claim is easy to debunk, however.
He repeatedly invoked “lock her up” cries during his 2016 run for president and, at the time, even said he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into accusations Clinton improperly used a private email server during her time as Barack Obama’s secretary of state.
While Trump did soften his stance a bit after securing his 2016 presidential win, telling supporters they “owe” Clinton “a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country,” by 2020 he was back to his old schtick.
Responding to chants of “lock her up” at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that September, he told followers, “I agree.”
Though Trump has now been convicted of nearly three dozen felonies, it’s still unclear if he will face any jail time for his crimes.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has scheduled the politician’s sentencing for July 11, just four days ahead of the Republican National Convention.