Ex-Trump Aide Blasts Donald’s New Fundraising Email: ‘So Reckless’

Former President Donald Trump faces online backlash for a recent fundraising email that accused Democrats of wanting him “beheaded” after he was convicted in Manhattan.

The email in question, according to multiple sources, reads, “HAUL OUT THE GUILLOTINE. They want me BEHEADED after this verdict! And it’s not just me they want gone, THEY’RE REALLY COMING AFTER YOU!”

Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of business fraud late last month in connection to a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the ex-president’s first bid for the White House in 2016. The fundraising email appears to have been sent by his campaign Wednesday morning.

Several commentators bashed Trump’s language, including his former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, who wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, “This kind of rhetoric is so reckless, dangerous, & shameful.”

“When will the Right wake up to the fact that the Trump that kicked back & enjoyed 1/6 is who Trump is?” Griffin added, referencing the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol waged by Trump supporters.

Former NBC executive Mike Sington also blasted the former president’s email, writing on X, “Just when you thought he couldn’t sink any lower … Trump sends out fundraising email calling for the beheading of his opponents and critics.”

“From Fascism onward, authoritarians have prepared people to accept and commit violence by conjuring existential threats,” posted Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian and leading expert on fascism who has written multiple books on propaganda and authoritarianism.

“Those threats must be not only to the beloved leader, but also to his followers. Jan. 6 was another ex: it was a rescue operation of a cult leader in distress,” Ben-Ghiat added. “Now a desperate convicted felon, Trump conjures a guillotine meant for them too.”

Amanda Carpenter, writer for nonpartisan group Protect Democracy, wrote in a post to X that Trump’s email was “Completely unacceptable. Beyond irresponsible. Gross. Disgusting. Unhinged.”

Newsweek on Wednesday reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment on the backlash.

The former president’s rhetoric has been repeatedly criticized, from verbal attacks against his opponents to his supposed inspiration for violence among his supporters. His comments have led to several gag orders in the plethora of legal challenges against him as he runs for reelection in November, including one in his hush money case, of which he was found in violation 10 times during trial.

A day after his guilty verdict in Manhattan, Trump said at a press conference from his Trump Tower that he knows some of his comments regarding his conviction could be “dangerous” due to his gag order, but that he doesn’t “mind because I’m willing to do whatever it takes to save our country and save our Constitution.”