President Donald Trump's rhetoric about Democrats stealing the 2020 presidential election is raising alarms among international elections observers who say that the president could inspire his supporters to commit acts of violence at polling places. "We would never predict civil war, but isolated incidents of violence could be quite serious," said Robert Malley, who is the group's president. Janet Napolitano, who served as Secretary of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama, said that Trump's reckless rhetoric about recruiting an "army" of poll watchers has significantly increased the risk of violence. "We've seen it in the rise of these right-wing militia groups and it's almost as if implicitly he's giving them permission to take whatever action they want up to and including kidnapping a sitting governor." "This is Trump's army, the same ones who will show up at our polling places."

Source: International New York Times October 15, 2020 14:15 UTC