“We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” he said Tuesday on a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, another close Trump advisor. “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections—we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.”
The Trump campaign tried to distance itself from Patel’s comments on Wednesday, but there is little reason to believe them. Much of what Patel said is also what Trump has said. The former president promised last month to wipe out all the “vermin” who opposed him, apparently referring to his political opponents. Many of his posts on his Truth Social website are harangues against the various people who’ve wronged him.
Last month, The Washington Post reported that Trump has privately told associates that he would use the Justice Department to go after various high-profile critics, including former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Milley. But the main focus of his ire is President Joe Biden. “I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family,” Trump declared earlier this summer.