On Tuesday, Donald Trump falsely alleged that President Joe Biden was prepared to shoot him during the 2022 FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago, a claim described by The AP News as “an extraordinary distortion of a standard FBI policy on the use of deadly force during such operations.”
In a fundraising email, Trump’s campaign wrote, “They were authorized to shoot me!” and accused the Biden administration of being “itching to do the unthinkable… Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.” According to Vanity Fair
Trump echoed this sentiment on Truth Social, claiming, “Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed these claims on X, saying, “The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light.”
These statements, as noted by The New York Times, misinterpret a law enforcement document released in court filings detailing the FBI’s plans for the court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago. The document, which outlines the FBI’s standard policy on the use of deadly force, states that such force can only be used if an officer or another person faces “imminent danger of death or serious physical injury.” This means the FBI could not use deadly force unless there was an immediate threat.
The FBI stated that it “followed standard protocol in this search, as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force…. No one ordered additional steps to be taken, and there was no departure from the norm in this matter.”
Moreover, Trump omitted key details: he was not at Mar-a-Lago during the raid. The FBI deliberately chose a day when Trump would not be present to avoid confrontation, and the Secret Service, which provides Trump with security, was notified in advance of the search.
While it’s not surprising that Trump and his allies are making false claims, this particular lie is especially alarming given the potential for his supporters to act on the belief that he has been wronged.
In response to questions about the document and Trump’s claims, a spokeswoman for Trump accused The Washington Post of trying to protect Biden, stating, “The good news is, Americans don’t buy the pro-Democrat, Election Interfering pro-Biden propaganda the Washington Post is constantly selling.”
