On Wednesday, during a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was confronted with chants of “lock him up” and she responded cautiously. The same chant used against former President Donald Trump had been started as Harris began speaking about her involvement as a prosecutor.
As she detailed her experience prosecuting criminals, a familiar chant started among the crowd: “lock him up.” In response, Harris interrupted her speech, raising her hand and saying, “Well, hold on.You know what? Just leave it to courts. The question will be answered there. We’re only going to defeat him come November.”
The crowd responded with cheers and applause as Harris shifted the focus back to her campaign’s message.
Harris has tried to manage recurring “lock him up” chants at her campaign events. This slogan is an offshoot of “lock her up” slogans directed against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 elections and is gaining traction in light of ongoing legal troubles faced by Trump.
In May Donald Trump got charged for paying quiet money over extramarital affairs during his 2016 campaign. While he could receive up to four years in prison it is anticipated that his sentence will be lighter than that. In addition to this case of Trump’s being convicted for hush money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign season that aimed at covering up claims of his affairs; there are other cases such as investigations into alleged election interference and mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago which further complicates things for him after leaving office.