Donald Trump divides supporters after backing down on Hillary Clinton charges

Updated

US President-elect Donald Trump has divided the loyalty of his supporters after suggesting in an interview with the New York Times that he will not be pursuing charges against Hillary Clinton, despite the "lock her up" catchcry being a key platform of his campaign.

"She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt [the Clintons] at all. The campaign was vicious," Mr Trump told the Times, adding that launching an investigation was "not something I feel very strongly about".

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh asked the 2 million people who like his Facebook page for reaction and received more than 2,000 responses, many of which were livid.

"Donald J. Trump, I am hearing that you will not be pursuing Hillary email scandal and pay-to-play. If that is the case, you just proved to me and America that laws are for the poor people. That Lady Justice is not blind. That you are no different than the swamp you want to drain. If true, you have just spit in my face and so many others," Facebook user Donald Marks wrote.

But many others remain convinced that Mr Trump's backdown is a strategic masterstroke designed to ensure Mrs Clinton ends up in jail.

US radio personality and Trump supporter Bill Mitchell tweeted to his more than 150,000 followers that Mr Trump was merely removing himself from the legal process in order to allow the FBI to "operate independently".

"You may be upset Trump has signalled he will not 'persecute Hillary', but you will see in short that this was brilliant strategic positioning," Mitchell wrote.

Other posts suggest that Trump was "playing chess", and that the move was "genius".

"Trump won't pursue Hillary, but the FBI and DOJ can," a Twitter user under the handle Forever Deplorable wrote.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a close Trump adviser, told reporters that while he would have supported an investigation, Mr Trump had to make a "tough choice".

"There is a tradition in American politics that after you win an election, you sort of put things behind you," Mr Giuliani told ABC News America.

Reuters

Topics: us-elections, world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, united-states

First posted