Donald Trump was mocked for claiming in a campaign email that President Joe Biden was "locked and loaded, ready to take me out" during the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate for classified documents.
According to outlets, the former president's claim has been debunked as a distortion of the agency's protocols involving the use of "deadly force" during operations.
The Trump campaign's email to his supporters read, "BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME! It’s just been revealed that Biden’s DOJ was authorized to use DEADLY FORCE for their DESPICABLE raid in Mar-a-Lago."
"You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable… Joe Biden was locked & loaded, ready to take me out & put my family in danger," the email continued. "He thinks he can frighten me, intimidate me, and KNOCK ME DOWN! But worst of all? They think their THUG TACTICS will cause proud supporters like YOU to abandon me. But here’s the one thing they don’t know: WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"
The email concluded with Trump labeling the indictments against him a "witch hunt" and calling on his supporters to donate to his campaign. This has led to several of his critics to call out the ex-president for "stoking the flames" in an already heated election cycle.
One user took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to claim Trump was "stepping up the lying to incite violence."
Another person commented, "Trump, you weren't even there when the raid took place... and the procedure is standard for the FBI. Biden had nothing to do with it."
A third critic jokingly mocked the former president, writing, "My family and I were so close to being dead despite being 5,000 miles away and being surrounded by secret service members making sure no one can even cough on me."
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed she was the one who told the former president about the non-existent danger he faced when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago.
“I made sure that he knew. The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light,” Greene wrote after Trump posted a message ranting that Biden’s DOJ “AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”
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While arguing for presidential immunity to the Supreme Court, Trump's lawyer John Sauer argued that a president should have the right to order "Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival" as an "official act.
Sauer claimed, "A political process would have to occur."
The Washington Postprovided quotes and sources used in this article.