Maggie Haberman Says Trump ‘Increasingly Apocalyptic’ — ‘Very Clear’ He Will ‘Go After Biden and His Family’ If He Wins

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric has become “increasingly apocalyptic,” and that he’s making “very clear” he intends to “go after President Joe Biden and his family” if he wins.

Trump’s speeches have become dark by design, earning him comparisons to Adolf Hitler on numerous occasions and delving into apocalyptic territory typified by rants like this one:

2024 is our final battle! With you at my side, we will demolish the deep State. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the Communists, Marxists, fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.

We will rout the fake news media. We will evict Joe Biden. Crooked as you can be. Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of our country. We will evict him from the White House and we will finish the job once and for all! We will make America great again!

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Keilar played a montage of such talk, and asked Haberman for her insights:

KEILAR: What is he telegraphing, Maggie, when he is talking about this, in these terms? What is he telegraphing here? His, would a second term–

HABERMAN: Look, he–

KEILAR: –a potential second term would be?

HABERMAN: Sure. I mean, I think this is the underlying question, with what he’s been doing, for a couple of years now.

He has been speaking, as have a lot of his supporters, and a lot of folks, on the right, in increasingly apocalyptic terms, describing essentially the country is on fire, describing everything, as in tumult, describing everything as terrible, describing everything as the ultimate fight, to take the country back, quote-unquote. You are going to hear that a lot.

Now, what he has said previously, in addition to that language, and he’s been saying it all year is, some version of, “I am your retribution.”

He has made very clear that he is going to use his time, in office, to go after President Biden, and his family. He is going to radically change the federal government. He is going to erode the post-Watergate norm, between the Justice Department and the White House. I mean, among other things, he has a very radical plan for immigration. All of this fits into his description of the country, in turmoil.

I think, to Dave Urban’s point, there are a lot of people, who are looking at specific policy aspects. They look at the border, right now. They look at inflation. And they are very upset. And they are hearing him casted, in these terms, as some kind of incredibly grim match. I think you’re going to hear him continue to say that.

What he will do with that presidency is not necessarily what that means, in terms of final battle. I think his view, of what he wants to do, with the White House, yes, there are policy pieces. But there are — there is also a payback component, for him, personally.

KEILAR: Yes. He makes it very clear.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.