Rhetoric from former President Donald Trump could lead a mentally unstable person to perform an act of violence, Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.
With an indictment against Trump likely this coming week connected to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Sterling said he does not expect to see any organized violence, but was concerned that individuals could be radicalized who are "probably mentally unstable."
"My biggest concern for years now — I've said this at election conferences where you get professionals who run elections around this country — is somebody will be motivated by some of these kind of languages at some point and do something stupid," Sterling said, referring to an ad that Trump's campaign team is running calling Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and others the "fraud squad."
Sterling said: "It's not going to mean organized things. It's not going to be a bunch of conspirators together. It's going to be one probably mentally unstable individual who's going to be radicalized through this process, and that's my biggest concern through this."
Sterling was working in the secretary of state's office in the aftermath of the 2020 election and oversaw a recount, The Hill reported. During that time period, officials were receiving death threats while Trump continued to claim that massive alleged fraud had taken place that resulted in his loss in the presidential election.
Even at that time, Sterling was attempting to appeal to Trump to tone down his rhetoric and said during a news conference in the midst of the recount, "Someone's going to get hurt. Someone's going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed."