Trump�s Online MAGA Army Calls Guilty Verdict a Declaration of War

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.�