The posts are ominous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPick a side, or YOU are next,\u201d wrote<\/a> conservative talkshow host Dan Bongino on the Truth Social media platform in the aftermath of Donald Trump\u2019s 34 felony convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The replies were even more so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDan, seriously now,\u201d one user wrote in response to Bongino. \u201cI see no way out of all this mess without bloodshed. When you can rig an election, then weaponize the government and the courts against a former President, what other alternative is there? I\u2019m almost 70 and would rather die than live in tyranny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s a common version of how many people on the US right reacted to the ex-president\u2019s verdict, drawing on a \u201cmirror world\u201d where Trump is seen as the selfless martyr to powerful state forces and Joe Biden is the dangerous autocrat wielding the justice system as his own personal plaything and a threat to US democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calls for revenge, retribution and violence littered the rightwing internet as soon as Trump\u2019s guilty verdict came down, all predicated on the idea that the trial had been a sham designed to interfere with the 2024 election. Some posted online explicitly saying<\/a> it was time for hangings, executions and civil wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, Trump was charged with falsifying documents related to a hush-money payment made to an adult film actor to keep an alleged affair out of the spotlight during the 2016 election \u2013 a form of election interference from a man whose platform lately consists largely of blaming others for election interference. The verdict has been followed by a backlash from his followers, those who for years chanted to lock up Trump\u2019s political opponents, like Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the left, the mood was downright celebratory, a brief interlude of joy that Trump might finally be held accountable for his actions. But there was an undercurrent of worry among some liberals, who saw the way these felonies could galvanize support for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the right, in the alternate reality<\/a> created by and for Trump and his supporters, the convictions are a sign of both doom and dogma \u2013 evidence that a corrupt faction runs the Joe Biden government, but that it can be driven out by the Trump faithful like themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s allies in Congress want to use the federal government\u2019s coffers to send a message to Biden that the verdict crosses a line, saying the jury\u2019s decision \u201cturned our judicial system into a political cudgel\u201d. Some Senate Republicans vowed<\/a> not to cooperate with Democratic priorities or nominees \u2013 effectively politicizing the government as recompense for what they claim is a politicization of the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They echoed a claim Trump himself has repeatedly driven home to his followers: that his political opponents, namely Biden, are a threat to democracy, a rebrand of how Biden and Democrats often cast Trump. For his most ardent followers, the stakes of the 2024 election are existential, the idea that he might lose a cause for intense rhetoric and threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, for some, the convictions provide another reason to take matters into their own hands during a time when support for using violence to achieve political goals is on the rise. Indictments against Trump fueled<\/a> this support, surveys have shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some rightwing media and commentators, like Bongino and the Gateway Pundit, displayed upside-down flags on social media, a sign of distress and a symbol among Trump supporters that recently made the news because one flew at<\/a> US supreme court justice Samuel Alito\u2019s home after the insurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The terms \u201cbanana republic\u201d and \u201ckangaroo court\u201d flew around, as did memes comparing Biden to Nazi or fascist leaders. Telegram channels lit up with posts about how the end of the US was solidified \u2013 unless Trump wins again in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we jail Trump, get rid of Maga, end the electoral college, ban voter ID, censor free speech, we\u2019ll save democracy,\u201d says one meme in a QAnon channel on Telegram that depicts Biden in a Nazi uniform with a Hitler mustache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tucker Carlson, the rightwing media heavyweight, waxed apocalyptic<\/a>: \u201cImport the third world, become the third world. That\u2019s what we just saw. This won\u2019t stop Trump. He\u2019ll win the election if he\u2019s not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world. Anyone who defends this verdict is a danger to you and your family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s supporters also opened their wallets, sending a \u201crecord-shattering\u201d $34.8m in small-dollar donations to Trump\u2019s campaign on Thursday, the Trump campaign claimed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The massive haul came after Trump declared himself a \u201cpolitical prisoner\u201d (he is not in prison) and declared justice \u201cdead\u201d in the US in a dire fundraising pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api2\/anchor?ar=1&k=6LdzlmsdAAAAALFH63cBVagSFPuuHXQ9OfpIDdMc&co=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tOjQ0Mw..&hl=zh-CN&type=image&v=DH3nyJMamEclyfe-nztbfV8S&theme=light&size=invisible&badge=bottomright&cb=58bnrsu62n6rPrivacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real verdict, Trump wrote on Truth Social, would come on 5 November. Posts calling 5 November a new \u201cindependence day\u201d and comparing 2024 to 1776 \u2013 but a revolution not against the British, but among Americans for the control of the country \u2013 spread widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Misinformation and rumors spread as well, with the potential that these rumors could lead to further action by Republicans<\/a> to avenge Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one viral claim, people say it\u2019s not clear what crimes Trump even committed (the charges for falsifying documents are listed in detail in the indictment<\/a>, and have been broken down<\/a> piece by piece by the media). In another, posts claim the judge gave incorrect instructions to the jury before deliberations, which an Associated Press fact check<\/a> deemed false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suggestions that the conviction was an \u201cop\u201d or a \u201cpsyop\u201d \u2013 meaning a planned manipulation, a common refrain on the far right whenever something big happens \u2013 spread as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk quickly went to what Maga should do to stand up for Trump, and about how the verdict\u2019s fans, and Democrats in general, would come to regret seeking accountability in the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is going to be the biggest political backfire in US history,\u201d the conservative account Catturd posted on Truth Social. \u201cI\u2019m feeling a tremendous seismic shift in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kash Patel, a former Trump administration staffer and ally, suggested<\/a> one way forward: Congress should subpoena the bank records of Merchan\u2019s daughter, he said. The daughter became a frequent target<\/a> throughout the trial \u2013 she worked as a Democratic consultant and has fundraised for Democratic politicians. Ohio senator JD Vance called for<\/a> a criminal investigation into Merchan, and potentially his daughter, whom Vance said was an \u201cobvious beneficiary of Merchan\u2019s biased rulings\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patel also said prosecutor Alvin Bragg should be subpoenaed for any documents related to meetings with the Biden administration. \u201cIn case you need a jurisdictional hook- Bragg\u2019s office receives federal funds from DOJ to \u2018administer justice\u2019- GET ON IT,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Megyn Kelly said<\/a> Bragg should be disbarred, without offering a reason for what would justify it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Trump allies sought to project calm amid the vitriol, saying they had known the verdict would come down as it did because the process had been rigged, and that people needed to keep focused on winning in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n