Donald Trump supporters have inundated pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution, and violent retribution.
According to Reuters, after Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters reacted with numerous violent online posts, on three Trump-aligned websites- the former president's own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win, and the Gateway Pundit.
Even as all eyes are on the July 11 sentencing, US-based pollster Frank Luntz has warned of the potential fallout if the MAGA leader is sentenced to prison during an interview with Sky News. "If he's given jail time, he becomes a martyr," Luntz stated. "Focus group respondents feel there would be riots in the streets. There are real concerns that the results of this case could bring a level of violence we've never seen in American democracy."
Donald Trump would become "a martyr" in the minds of his most ardent supporters if he is given jail time, US pollster @Frankluntz suggests to Sky's @WilfredFrosthttps://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 31, 2024
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/NBuKXX7Uuu
Luntz emphasized the unprecedented nature of the situation. "Just the fact that he has been found guilty of 34 felonies is something that we are not used to. The public is looking at this, shrugging their shoulders, and saying, 'How the hell did we get here?'
Meanwhile, Trump's MAGA supporters have expressed their outrage, describing the entire trial as "rigged" and accusing the jury, judge, and bailiff of corruption. "You can't treat a WWE Hall of Famer this way. It's a disgrace. These are trumped-up charges, and you know it. The whole thing's rigged," one supporter exclaimed.
Calling the system "corrupt," supporters justified Trump's actions as legitimate business expenses and urged others to donate to his legal fund. They are echoing his campaign's narrative, portraying him as a victim of an unjust system trying to imprison him unfairly.
Many people also displayed upside-down American flags outside homes and on social media in support of Donald Trump. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and country music singer Jason Aldean were among the prominent Americans displaying the inverted flag, a symbol of distress or protest in America for over 200 years.
The symbolic inverting of the flag drew nationwide attention when the New York Times reported in mid-May that an upside-down Stars and Stripes was flown outside the home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters rioting in protest at his 2020 election defeat.
Many experts and critics of Trump have attributed the rhetoric to the violence of January 6, and some now fear that similar violence could result from the hush money trial.
Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes on Thursday after a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to quickly appeal the verdict.
Some of the sites where Trump supporters were posting violent language have taken down their posts, but only after enough MAGA fans got their message across.
The conviction doesn't prevent Trump from continuing his campaign or becoming president. He can also still vote for himself in his home state of Florida, provided he stays out of prison in New York state.
