“Path to a dictatorship”: Democrats flame Trump’s public pressure on Bondi
Schumer warns Trump’s pressure on Bondi is a dangerous step toward dictatorship.
Democrats viewed President Trump’s public demand Sunday that Attorney General Pam Bondi not “delay” prosecutions of his political opponents as a threat to American democracy.
The big picture: In his message Saturday to the nation’s top law enforcement official, Trump called for action against three of his opponents, intensifying his campaign of retaliation and the already mounting international pressure on Bondi following the Epstein affair.
- Trump, who has proclaimed himself “the nation’s chief law enforcement officer,” has flooded the Justice Department and other agencies with loyalists who are now investigating Democrats and other Trump critics.
Driving the news: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump is turning the Justice Department “into a tool to hunt down his enemies, guilty or not,” and that “this helps his friends.”
- Schumer warned: “This is the road to dictatorship.”
Zoom: Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) described the current situation as “one of the most dangerous” the country has ever faced, saying on ABC’s “This Week,” “We are rapidly becoming a banana republic.”
- Referring to the suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel following a warning from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding his comments following the murder of Charlie Kirk, he said that Trump is “using the full power of the federal government, the FCC, and the Department of Justice to punish, imprison, take down, and shut down all of his political enemies.”
“Two things are happening: First, you will be prosecuted for your political speech in this country, but you will also be pardoned,” Murphy said, referring to Trump’s pardons of the January 6 rioters and the Justice Department’s announcement that it had closed its investigation into Border Patrol agent Tom Homan.
Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote on social media Sunday: “Imagine if Richard Nixon tweeted about the Watergate scandal instead of secretly recording it. That’s what it’s like.”
Imagine if Richard Nixon had just tweeted out the Watergate scandal rather than putting it on secret tapes.
That’s what this is. pic.twitter.com/y8W4Xt0Tha— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 21, 2025
- “President Trump appreciates everything Attorney General Bondi is doing to make America safe again,” White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said in a statement provided to Axios.
- “The president demands justice and accountability for the many criminals and corrupt politicians who used our justice system against him and millions of his patriotic supporters.”
Context: Trump’s post, which appeared to be a private message to Bondi, quoted former FBI Director James Comey, Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and New York Attorney General Letitia James—all the targets of administrative investigations—as demanding “Justice now!”
- He wrote that he had reviewed “over 30 statements and publications that essentially said, ‘It’s the same story as last time, all talk and nothing else. Nothing is being done.'”
Between the lines: The post appears motivated by hostility toward Eric Seibert, the federal prosecutor in Virginia, who did not file charges against James and declined to prosecute Comey.
- The president said Saturday he fired Seibert after learning he had received “unusually strong” support from “corrupt” Democratic senators in Virginia.
- He wrote: “We cannot wait any longer. This is damaging our reputation and credibility.”
Yes, but: Deprived of the tools of federal power, Democrats urged their Republican colleagues to resist Trump.
- “We need our Republican colleagues more than ever to denounce this attack on the foundations of democracy,” Schumer told CNN.
- Asked what means of resistance he might use, Schumer cited “legal” and “legislative” avenues.
Friction point: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a fiscal policy advocate who has split with the administration on key tax and spending bills and other key issues, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “legal warfare in any form is wrong.”
- He asserted that the charges against Trump also constituted “legal warfare,” but added, “It’s also wrong for Republicans to do that.”
The other side: Asked about Trump’s post, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) defended the president as being “open and transparent with the American people” on “State of the Union.”
- Mullin added, “If they did anything, I don’t know… This is a country that needs to investigate.”
Go deeper: Unexpected law enforcement actors are influencing Trump’s “weaponized” campaign.
