Trump threatens to jail adversaries for ‘unscrupulous behavior’ if he wins

With just days to go before his first - and likely only - debate against Kamala Harris, Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those "involved in unscrupulous behavior" this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.

"WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again," the former president wrote, again trying to sow doubt about the integrity of November's election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.

"Please beware," the Republican nominee went on, "that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country."

Trump's message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term in the oval office. There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. In fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly.

Just days ago, Trump himself acknowledged in a podcast interview that he had indeed "lost", though he claimed it was "by a whisker" when in fact he was defeated 306-232 in the electoral college and lost the popular vote by more than 7m.

While Trump's campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inflation and border security, Trump in recent days has veered far off course.

On Friday, he delivered a stunning statement to news cameras in which he brought up a string of past allegations of sexual misconduct, describing several in graphic detail, even as he denied his accusers' allegations. Earlier, he had voluntarily appeared in court for a hearing on the appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, turning focus to his legal woes in the campaign's final stretch.