The FBI’s disruption of a plot by the Wolverine Watchmen to kidnap the Democratic governor of Michigan has highlighted the potentially violent role a clutch of self-styled militias could play as Americans go to the polls next month.

“I remain concerned about safety and integrity going up to this election,” Gretchen Whitmer, the target of the alleged plot, told CBS on Sunday. She warned that such “domestic terrorists” were finding comfort and support in the rhetoric from both the White House and wider Republican leadership. 

Donald Trump has refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power if he were to lose on November 3, citing unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud. He told one rightwing group, Proud Boys, to “stand back and standby” during last month’s presidential debate. His son Donald Trump Jr has also called for “every able-bodied man, woman to join Army For Trump’s election security operation” on Facebook and Twitter.