The Most Dangerous Sentence a President Has Ever Said Out Loud
(And the 90-Day Plan to Make Sure He Never Gets to Finish It)
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #1,051: Friday, October 9th, 2026.
Let me tell you about a sentence.
It’s short. It wasn’t shouted. It came wrapped in talk about how “sacred” the presidency is. And if you weren’t paying attention, it slid right past you like a pickpocket in a crowd.
This week the President of the United States said he had chosen not to go after Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Chosen.
Then he said he could do whatever he wants.
Read that again. No charge. No investigation. No evidence waved in the air. Just a reminder, delivered with a smile, that three of his political opponents are breathing free air today because he has not yet decided otherwise.
That is not a policy statement. That is not an election argument. That is a man telling you where the leash is…and that he’s holding it.
Why This One Is Different
I’ve been watching politicians say ugly things for a long time. Most of it is noise. This isn’t noise. Here’s why.
A threat only works when it’s believable. And this one is believable…because of everything behind it. The Justice Department under this administration has already opened cases against critics. Prosecutors who declined to play along have been pushed out. The pattern is on the record for anyone who cares to look.
So when the president says “I could,” the people who’ve been paying attention hear “I will, when it suits me.”
And…here is the part that should keep you up at night: he didn’t name three random citizens. He named the three people most likely to be able to organize opposition to him. That’s not revenge. That’s strategy.
What Happens If Nobody Moves
Picture it. A former president indicted on a theory nobody’s ever heard of.
A trial scheduled for the week before an election.
Every Democrat who might run next time gets the message: step out of line and you’re next. Every Republican who might break ranks gets the same message, just quieter.
You don’t have to lock anyone up to win that game. You only have to make everyone believe you might.
That’s the whole play. And it’s working on people right now, today, as you read this.
Here’s the Good News
He said it in public. That’s the mistake.
Threats only work in the dark. The moment you drag one into daylight…and make people say its name…it starts losing power. And…the machinery to stop this already exists. It isn’t fancy. It isn’t new. It just needs people to actually use it.
So here’s the plan.
Step One: The 26 Days
The midterm elections are November 3. That’s the single biggest lever on the planet… and it’s sitting right in front of you.
A Justice Department can’t be turned into a weapon without a Congress that looks the other way. Change who holds the gavel…in even one chamber…and…suddenly there are subpoenas, hearings, budget strings, and a hundred ways to make every politically motivated case cost something.
So: are you registered? Is your address current? Do you know where your polling place is and what hours it keeps? Do you have a plan for the three people in your life who “meant to vote last time”?
That’s not a slogan. That’s a checklist. Do it today.
Step Two: Make It Expensive
Every member of Congress has a phone number and a public record. Call yours. Not an email…a call. Ask one question and only one: “Does the senator believe the president can prosecute his political opponents without evidence? Yes or no.”
Write down the answer. Post it. Share it. Make every official in Washington choose…in public…between the Constitution and the man.
Most of them hate being forced to choose. That’s exactly the point.
Step Three: Fund the Lawyers
Every one of these cases will land in a courtroom. Judges have thrown out politically motivated prosecutions before…and they’ll do it again…but only if someone’s standing there making the argument.
Pick one organization that does nothing but litigate this stuff. Set up a monthly donation. Twenty dollars. Fifty if you can. Too expensive? Have you checked on the cost of an autocracy yet? Lawyers win cases, not hashtags.
Step Four: Protect the Witnesses
Career prosecutors, agents and civil servants are the ones who have to say “no” when the order comes down. Right now a lot of them are wondering whether anybody has their back.
Tell them. Write to the inspector general when retaliation happens. Support whistleblower groups. Treat the people inside the building like the firefighters they are.
Step Five: Say It Plainly, Every Time
The entire strategy depends on exhausting you. On you shrugging…and saying “that’s just how he talks.”
Don’t. Every time it happens, say exactly what it is: a president threatening to jail his opponents. Not spin. Not drama. Description.
Boring…repeated…accurate description is the most powerful weapon there is against a man who needs everything to be a show.
One Last Thing
I’m not asking you to hate anybody. (But, you can.) I’m not asking you to break a window or raise a fist. Violence is what he’s counting on…because it gives him the excuse he’s been looking for.
I’m asking you to do the four or five dull, legal, grown-up things that actually decide who holds power in this country.
Vote. Call. Fund. Protect. Describe.
He told you he could do whatever he wants.
Bullshit. Prove him wrong.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
Remember, Jack’s got your back.
P.S. The election is in 26 days. Everything above gets a hundred times harder on November 4. Start now.
Sources
The remarks themselves
Trump Threatens Biden, Obama and Hillary: I Can Do ‘Whatever I Want’ — Yahoo News, Oct. 8, 2026. Reports Trump saying he had chosen not to act against the three, that he could do whatever he wants, and that he cited no charge or investigation.
The pattern at the Justice Department
Trump names new prosecution targets as experts criticize DOJ politicization — Straight Arrow News, May 2026. Trump publicly adding Jack Smith and Andrew Weissmann to his list of desired prosecutions; legal experts on politicization.
Trump administration continues push to prosecute prominent critics — NPR, Nov. 28, 2025. Comey and Letitia James cases, Trump’s public direction to DOJ to investigate them, and hints of more to come.
Bondi says DOJ ending ‘weaponization of justice’ as it pursues Trump critics — Reuters via Yahoo, Oct. 2025. Comey indictment following Trump’s demand, the resignation of a prosecutor who found the evidence insufficient, and firings of career prosecutors.
Justice Department again fails to re-indict Letitia James — AP. Grand juries twice declining to re-indict; earlier charges against James and Comey dismissed. Supports the “fund the lawyers” section.
Trump’s efforts to silence critics derailed by roadblocks — summary of Feb. 18, 2026 Reason reporting on grand juries and lower courts blocking several of these prosecutions.
The administration’s position
White House backs Trump’s prosecutions, blasts “gaslighting” critics — Axios, Sept. 22, 2025. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s defense that the cases are accountability, not weaponization. Included for the opposing view.
The election timeline
Trump’s pledge not to strike Iran before midterms fails to soothe oil markets — NBC News, Oct. 8, 2026. Confirms the Nov. 3 midterm date referenced throughout.
The republicans have shown us that without a doubt- they are not capable of governing. We are not being governed. We are being harassed, terrorized, threatened, and robbed of tax dollars, a decent education, and health care- donald has created a mess and the cabinet and congress CHOOSE not to stop him. Vote them ALL out
If we get those stupid $90 bribe/payments, they're going straight to Democratic candidates. Nothing like Trump giving me the tack to put on his chair.