“Lock her up” began trending Thursday on Twitter after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) tweeted that Democrats were obsessed with throwing President Donald Trump and his family in prison, seemingly forgetting that Trump had called for imprisoning his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Gaetz — who raised eyebrows online last week by posting a series of inappropriate emojis in a reply to a photo tweeted by Tiffany Trump — highlighted a tweet by Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) calling for the prosecution of Trump and outgoing members of his administration.
Pascrell, a vehement critic of Trump, argued that the president had committed “innumerable crimes” and needed to be investigated by the Department of Justice.
“This is where we are now,” Gaetz wrote. “Disgusting.”
Gaetz’s rant quickly drew replies from those who remembered Trump’s insistent refrain in 2016 that Clinton should be imprisoned for her alleged misdoings as secretary of state under the Barack Obama administration.
“Lock her up” became a common chant at Trump’s rallies at the time, and endured even after Trump won the election and claimed that he had only played up his threat against Clinton for show.
During Trump’s reelection campaign in September, supporters of the president switched the chant into “lock him up” after Trump insisted that Obama had been “caught spying on my campaign.” The three words have also been used against Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose public health advice has increasingly been at odds with Trump’s administration.
Notably, Chelsea Clinton tweeted on Sunday that even in 2020, Trump supporters were still gathering outside her parents’ house demanding that her mother be locked up.
The former first daughter wrote that she hoped they were wearing masks.