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As Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s federal and state criminal cases are putting an unwanted legal spotlight on his business and political dealings, the former president is responding in predictable fashion: vowing to imprison his opponents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Crooked Joe Biden<\/strong> Campaign has thrown so many Indictments and lawsuits against me that Republicans are already thinking about what we are going to do to Biden and the Communists when it\u2019s our turn,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social Sunday evening. \u201cThey have started a whole new Banana Republic way of thinking about political campaigns. So cheap and dirty, but that\u2019s where America is right now. Be careful what you wish for!\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to multiple civil cases, Trump currently faces four criminal indictments, including one in federal court for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and one in Georgia for his election meddling scheme there. He has consistently claimed that the indictments are unfounded and politically motivated. In another Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump alleged<\/a> that \u201cthe Fake Indictments and lawsuits against me, 8 of them, all come out of the Biden Campaign for purposes of Election Interference.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet, Trump\u2019s baseless charges don\u2019t seem to be landing. According to a Politico Magazine\/IPSOS poll<\/a> from earlier this month, a majority of Americans\u2014including two-thirds of independents\u2014believe the DOJ\u2019s federal indictment was based on \u201ca fair evaluation of the evidence and the law.\u201d More voters believe Trump weaponized the DOJ than Biden. Trump\u2019s actions and statements in the criminal cases unfolding against him were rated far less favorably by voters than those of Joe Biden and DOJ officials like Attorney General Merrick Garland<\/strong> and special counsel Jack Smith<\/strong>.<\/p>\n An overwhelming majority of polled voters, moreover, said they wanted Trump to stand trial in the federal election overturning case before the 2024 presidential election. Last week, they got their wish: Federal judge Tanya Chutkan<\/strong> set<\/a> a trial date for March 2024, just a day before Super Tuesday. Trump\u2019s lawyers were asking for a 2026 trial date.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Truth Social post isn\u2019t the only disturbing promise he made this week. In an interview with Glenn Beck<\/strong> last week, Beck asked the former president about his 2016 \u201cLock her up\u201d promise, and whether he\u2019d make good on imprisoning his political opponents if elected in 2024. \u201cYou have no choice because they\u2019re doing it to us,\u201d Trump replied<\/a>.<\/p>\n These are themes Trump has sounded throughout the campaign. During his first campaign rally in Waco, Texas in March, Trump said<\/a>, \u201cFor those who have been wronged and betrayed\u2026I am your retribution.\u201d At that event, Trump played a song he recorded with the \u201cJ6 Prison Choir,\u201d a group of January 6 rioters imprisoned in Washington.<\/p>\n None of this has appeared to dim the former president\u2019s 2024 prospects, both against the GOP primary field and against the current president. In FiveThirtyEight\u2019s compilation<\/a> of GOP primary polls, Trump currently holds a commanding 37-point lead over second-place Ron DeSantis<\/strong>. The first New York Times<\/em> poll of the 2024 race showed<\/a> Trump and Biden in a dead heat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n