The words “RIP America” trended on X minutes after a jury in Manhattan found former president Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Images of an upside-down American flag—a symbol of distress that became co-opted by the 2020 Stop the Steal movement—flooded social media, as Trump supporters, fringe extremists, right-wing pundits, and politicians voiced their anger.
Ever since the trial began, pro-Trump commentators—and Trump himself—have been priming MAGA online ecosystems to claim foul play if the jury found him guilty. The response to his felony conviction was predictably swift, with many characterizing it as a declaration of “war” from the “deep state.” Incendiary rhetoric about how the guilty verdict was a sign of America’s collapse reverberated from the mainstream right all the way to the fringes.
“As of today, with this fake guilty verdict against Trump, America is no longer the United States,” wrote Joey Marianno, a pro-Trump political commentator, to his 466,000 followers on X. “We are a third-world shithole heading for a Civil War. I have no desire to see this country to unify. There’s no country to unite. We are long past that.”
Many of the biggest proponents of “Stop the Steal,” which culminated in the January 6 Capitol riot, did not hesitate to claim that the verdict was the result of a “rigged” justice system.
In a video posted to his 2.3 million followers on X, Infowars’ Alex Jones said that the “deep state and globalists” put Trump through a “kangaroo” court in the hope that a guilty verdict would harm his campaign. “Ladies and gentlemen, we see our republic on its deathbed right now,” said Jones, adding that he believed that “false-flag terror attacks blamed on Trump supporters angry about the verdict” were imminent. “We do not want any violence, we do not want any attacks,” he said.
Ali Alexander, a far-right conspiracy theorist, did not mince words either. “Today is Jan. 6th for the entire nation,” he wrote on Telegram to his 12,000 subscribers. “This is worse than the Civil War. Respectfully.”
That kind of rhetoric even made it to the airwaves. “We have been calling it lawfare,” said Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro.“I think lawfare is far too soft, it’s far too benign. This is warfare.”
Trump sounded off on Truth Social and in a fundraising email shortly after the verdict came in, doubling down on his false claim that he’s a victim of political persecution, perpetrated by a corrupt system that’s hell-bent on “stealing” the 2024 election from him again.
“THIS WAS A DISGRACE—A RIGGED TRIAL BY A CONFLICTED JUDGE WHO IS CORRUPT. WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR CONSTITUTION—THIS IS LONG FROM OVER!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s claims of “rigging” were repeated by supporters. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk also perpetuated conspiracy theories about the verdict. “This case was engineered for years, from the very top of the Democrat apparatus, to bring down Trump, using a rigged law in a rigged courtroom with a rigged jury,” Kirk wrote on X. “We must win. We must defeat these savages. Stand with Trump.”