Former Republican President Donald Trump was greeted with cheers by rallygoers after he appeared to threaten journalists with prison rape as a form of punishment for not revealing the sources who leaked a Supreme Court draft opinion on reproductive rights.
Trump referred to a leaked draft opinion that indicated the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would move to strike down Roe v. Wade—the 1973 landmark decision that once protected a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
The draft opinion ultimately proved to be accurate and the Supreme Court overturned Roe several weeks later, igniting a fire under Democrats who have since vowed to codify Roe into law should they win next month's midterm elections and Republicans who pledged to impose a federal abortion ban should they emerge the victors.
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
Trump said:
“You know in this country they leak all over the place even on the Supreme Court. By the way, you have to find the leaker of the Supreme Court."
"You have to find the leaker. You know how you find the leaker?”
“You take the writer and/or the publisher of the paper, a certain paper that you know, and you say, ‘Who is the leaker?’ National security."
“And they say, ‘We’re not gonna tell you.’ Then [you] say, ‘That’s OK. You’re going to jail.’"
"And when this person realizes that he is going to be the bride of another prisoner very shortly, he will say, ‘I’d very much like to tell you exactly who that leaker [is]. It was Bill Jones, I swear, he’s the leaker.’"
"And we got him. But they don’t want to do that.”
Trump's joke about journalists becoming "the bride" of another prisoner prompted many in the audience to laugh and applaud.
The footage quickly went viral, angering and disturbing Trump's critics.
At the time the draft opinion was leaked, some Republicans referred to it as "an insurrection," effectively downplaying the actual January 6 insurrection which took place after a mob of Trump's supporters attacked the nation's seat of government on the false premise the 2020 election was stolen.
Shortly after the draft opinon made headlines, the Supreme Court acknowledged it had opened an investigation into the leak in an attempt to identify the source but has not provided any updates since.
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