'Pick a side or you are next': Trump's MAGA fans threaten 'bloodshed' after NY conviction

Fans of Donald Trump are making threats of all sorts ranging from pushing for the prosecution of court officials and Democratic lawmakers to raising the prospect of a civil war after the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts in a Manhattan courtroom last Thursday.

On the same day that Trump appeared on Fox & Friends and planted the seed for future violence if he is put in jail by Judge Juan Merchan, the Guardian is reporting that the backlash against Trump's conviction by his true believers is wide and deep.

On Sunday morning Trump said of his possible jailing, "I'm not sure the public would stand for it. I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know at a certain point, there's a breaking point."

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According to the Guardian, that was borne out by avid Trump supporter and podcaster Dan Bongino proclaiming, "Pick a side, or YOU are next.”

That, in turn, led one of his followers to comment they would rather die than see the country not back Trump by writing, "Dan, seriously now. 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.”

According to the Guardian's Rachel Leingang, "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."

Noting the rise in incendiary "rhetoric and threats," Leingang added, "the [felony] 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."

Joining in on the furious reaction to seeing Trump found guilty by twelve jurors, fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson warned, "Import the third world, become the third world. That’s what we just saw. This won’t stop Trump. He’ll win the election if he’s 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.”

"Talk quickly went to what Maga should do to stand up for Trump, and about how the verdict’s fans, and Democrats in general, would come to regret seeking accountability in the courts," the report notes before citing MAGA influencer Catturd writing on Truth Social: "This is going to be the biggest political backfire in US history. I’m feeling a tremendous seismic shift in the air.”

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