Washington (AFP) - Top Democratic leaders on Sunday warned that President Donald Trump’s drive to go after his political opponents is putting America on a path to becoming a dictatorship and a “banana republic.”

These dramatic statements came a day after Trump’s public call for the Justice Department to take action against perceived enemies and after prominent late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off the air, following a threat from regulators loyal to Trump – among other aggressive Trump behavior that critics have described as authoritarian.

Turning the Justice Department “into an instrument that goes after his enemies, whether they’re guilty or not… is the path to a dictatorship,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Schumer said on CNN. “That’s what dictatorships do.”

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, meanwhile, suggested that the United States was turning into a “banana republic.”

“The president of the United States is now employing the full power of the federal government, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), the Department of Justice, in order to punish, lock up, take down off the air all of his political enemies,” Murphy said on ABC.

“This is one of the most dangerous moments America has ever faced. We are quickly turning into a banana republic,” Murphy said.

In a social media post on Saturday addressing “Pam” – apparently Attorney General Pam Bondi – Trump fumed over the lack of legal action against California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.

Schiff and James are among a handful of people who have been accused by a close Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.

“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said.

On Friday, Trump fired the federal prosecutor who was overseeing the probe into James, after the attorney reportedly insisted there was insufficient evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.

Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told staff of his resignation via an email on Friday, the New York Times and other US media outlets reported.

“I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so,” Trump said Saturday, apparently referencing the probe into James.

On Friday, asked by a reporter to comment on the case, Trump said: “I am not following it very closely. It looks to me like she’s very guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”

Former US Secretary of State and Trump’s White House challenger, Hillary Clinton, echoed Schumer’s criticism, calling his moves a “very dangerous turn in our politics.”

“What we’re hearing now from the White House and their supporters (is) that this may, you know, lead to even further political action, legal action, prosecutorial action, intimidation of all kinds,” Clinton said on CNN.

Schiff and James have separately clashed with Trump, leading investigations that the Republican president alleges were political witch hunts.

During Trump’s first term in the White House, Schiff, then a member of the US House, led the prosecution at the president’s first impeachment trial, which was based on allegations he pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election.

After Trump left the White House, James brought a major civil fraud case against him, alleging he and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.

A state judge ordered Trump to pay $464 million in that suit, but a higher court later removed the financial penalty while upholding the underlying judgment.