“Pick a side, or YOU are next,” wrote conservative talkshow host Dan Bongino on the Truth Social media platform in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 34 felony convictions.
The replies were even more so.
“Dan, seriously now,” one user wrote in response to Bongino. “I 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’m almost 70 and would rather die than live in tyranny.”
That’s a common version of how many people on the US right reacted to the ex-president’s verdict, drawing on a “mirror world” 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.
Calls for revenge, retribution and violence littered the rightwing internet as soon as Trump’s 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 it was time for hangings, executions and civil wars.
Violent protesters were let off easy for razing city blocks, but if you take a lectern or put your feet on Pelosi’s desk your thrown in the gulag for years. — NOS4A2
These stats from the Gaza Health ministry? — BitconnectCarlos
It might be the soy shots, Xtrix. — NOS4A2
Trump hasn’t committed any crimes — NOS4A2
Biden family corruption is the real problem. — NOS4A2
Another boring “both-sides” guy. How original— how interesting. — Mikie
Was he admitted into a greater political position within the U.S.? Then he had to do something to get there the same as all the others.And Trump never committed any. They literally have to conjure them out of thin air in order to maintain a delusion. — NOS4A2
But don't fall for the 'equivalence' fallacy. — Wayfarer
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