The messages are worrying.
“Pick a side, or YOU will be next,” conservative talk show host Dan Bongino wrote on the Truth Social media platform after former president Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies.
The answers were even more.
“Dan, I’m serious now,” one user wrote in response to Bongino. “I don’t see any way to get out of this whole mess without bloodshed. If you can rig an election and weaponize the government and courts against the former president, what alternative is there? “I am almost 70 years old and I would rather die than live in tyranny.”
This is a common version of how many on the US right reacted to Trump’s decision; He benefits from a “mirror world” in which Trump is seen as the selfless martyr of powerful state forces and Joe Biden is a dangerous autocrat who uses the justice system as his tool. his own personal plaything and a threat to American democracy.
As soon as Trump’s guilty verdict was announced, calls for revenge, retaliation, and violence flooded the right-wing internet; all based on the idea that the case was a sham designed to interfere with the 2024 election. Some openly posted online saying that it was time for hangings, executions and civil wars.
In that case, Trump was accused of falsifying documents related to a hush money payment to an adult film actor to keep an alleged affair out of the spotlight during the 2016 election; This is one form of election interference from a man who has been a big part of his platform lately. Accusing others of election interference. The decision was followed by the reaction of his followers, who have been chanting slogans to imprison Trump’s political rivals such as Hillary Clinton for years.
On the left, the mood was downright celebratory, with a brief period of jubilation that Trump might finally be held accountable for his actions. But there was an undercurrent of concern among some liberals who saw how these crimes could boost support for the former president.
On the right, in the alternative reality created by and for Trump and his supporters, convictions are a sign of both disaster and dogma; They are proof that Joe Biden’s government is run by a corrupt group, but that it can be overthrown by Trump loyalists like themselves.
Trump’s allies in Congress want to use the federal government’s coffers to send a message to Biden that the verdict crossed the line, saying the jury’s verdict “turns our judicial system into a political cudgel.” Some Senate Republicans have vowed not to cooperate with Democratic priorities or nominees, effectively politicizing the government in response to what they claim is the politicization of the courts.
They repeated a claim that Trump has repeatedly leveled at his followers: that their political rival Biden is a threat to democracy, a rebranding of how Biden and Democrats often elect Trump. For his most ardent followers, the risks of the 2024 election are existential; the idea that he might lose a case, which could lead to intense rhetoric and threats.
And for some, the convictions provide another reason to take matters into their own hands at a time when support for the use of violence to achieve political goals is growing. Polls show that the accusations against Trump have increased that support.
Some right-wing media and commentators, such as Bongino and Gateway Pundit, displayed upside-down flags on social media; it was a sign and a symbol of distress among Trump supporters; This made news recently because he flew to the home of US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. rebel.
The terms “banana republic” and “kangaroo court” are also floating around, as are memes comparing Biden to Nazi or fascist leaders. Telegram channels were ablaze with posts about how America’s doom is cemented if Trump doesn’t win again in November.
“If we jail Trump, get rid of Maga, end the electoral college, ban voter ID, censor free speech, we will save democracy,” reads a meme on the QAnon channel on Telegram depicting Biden in a Nazi uniform and with Hitler.
Right-wing media heavyweight Tucker Carlson glossed over the apocalypse: “Import the third world, become the third world. This is what we just saw. This won’t stop Trump. He will win the election if he is not killed first. But this marks the end of the fairest justice system in the world. “Anyone who defends this decision is a danger to you and your family,” he said.
Trump’s campaign claimed that the former president’s supporters also opened their wallets by sending a “record-breaking” $34.8 million in small-dollar donations to Trump’s campaign on Thursday.
This massive move comes after Trump declared himself a “political prisoner” (not in prison) and declared justice was “dead” in the US in a terrifying fundraising campaign.
“Their sick and twisted goal is simple: twist the justice system so much against me that proud supporters like YOU SPIT When you hear my name,” Trump’s campaign wrote. “BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! NOW IS IT TIME FOR ME AND YOU TO POUR IT BACK IN THEIR POOR FACES!”
The real decision will be made on November 5, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Posts were widely circulated calling November 5 a new “independence day” and comparing 2024 to 1776 (but a revolution among Americans for control of the country, not against the British).
Misinformation and rumors also spread, and these rumors had the potential to lead to further action by Republicans to avenge Trump.
In one viral claim, people say it’s not even clear what crimes Trump committed (charges of falsifying documents are listed in detail in the indictment and picked apart piece by piece by the media). Another alleges posts that the judge gave incorrect instructions to the jury before deliberations and that The Associated Press fact-checked it incorrectly.
Suggestions that the conviction was an “op” or “psiop” (meaning planned manipulation, a common refrain of the far right when something big happens) also spread.
Talk quickly turned to what Maga should do to defend Trump and how supporters of the decision, and Democrats in general, will regret demanding accountability in the courts.
“This will be the biggest political backlash in US history,” conservative account Catturd said on Truth Social. “I feel a tremendous seismic shift in the air.”
Kash Patel, a former Trump administration staffer and ally, suggested a way forward: Congress should subpoena Merchan’s daughter’s bank records, he said. Her daughter was a frequent target throughout the trial; She worked as a Democratic consultant and fundraiser for Democratic politicians. Ohio senator J.D. Vance called for a criminal investigation into Merchan and possibly Vance’s daughter, who he said was a “clear beneficiary of Merchan’s biased decisions.”
Patel also said that prosecutor Alvin Bragg should be subpoenaed for any documents related to discussions with the Biden administration. “If you need a judicial hook, Bragg’s office receives federal funding from the Justice Department for ‘administration of justice’; GO,” he wrote.
Megyn Kelly said Bragg should be disbarred, without providing any reason to justify it.
Some Trump allies have tried to appear calm amid harsh criticism, saying they knew the decision would be made that way because the process was rigged and that people should continue to focus on winning in November.
Steve Bannon, who also expects to spend some time in prison for insult, said immediately after the decision was announced that it “will not harm President Trump in any way.”
“It’s time to pull yourself together and say yes, we saw what happened. We saw how they managed the tables in this distorted process. But you have to say, hey, I’m more determined than ever to make things right.