Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The first year of the second Trump administration has been full of ominous developments.
Trump directed the Justice Department to go after his opponents. Last week, he lied about what he had done.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait, wait, wait. And then you tell me about me. Just so you understand, you say I went after these people. These people are bad people. They're dishonest people.
NORAH O'DONNELL: No, I was just asking, is it political retribution--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And Comey's a dirty cop. Look, Comey's known as a dirty cop. I'm not known as a dirty person. They indicted me many times, indicted me. They were after me. I'm lookin' at you now. I'm President of the United States. I went through numerous indictments and two impeachments. And you tell me that I went after people? These people are dishonest.
Look. Biden didn't have a clue. He illegally used, as you know, a machine, the autopen in order to give pardons to people. The only pardon he signed it looks like was his son, Hunter. He signed Hunter's, so, "Hunter, you're free, con-- congratulations, Hunter." But everyone else, I think those pardons are all just, were just a waste of time. Those pardons--
NORAH O'DONNELL: Did you instruct--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: --wait a minute, those pardons--
NORAH O'DONNELL: --the Department of Justice to go after them?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Did I what?
NORAH O'DONNELL: Did you instruct the Department of Justice to go after them?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, and not in any way, shape or form. No. You don't have to instruct 'em because they were so dirty, they were so crooked, they were so corrupt that the honest people we have, Pam Bondi's doin' a very good job. Kash Patel's doing a very good job.
...
NORAH O'DONNELL: But I was just asking, has this--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: For that, you should be ashamed.
Trump cited 3 Democrats in his Sept. 20 Truth Social post urging Bondi to prosecute them (that the WSJ reported was supposed to be a DM).
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) October 9, 2025
Less than 20 days later, the US attorney Trump installed to replace one who resisted that has indicted 2 of the 3. pic.twitter.com/jhfSgzvQ4u
