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Last week, at J.D. Vance’s first rally as the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, Ohio state Sen. George Lang said that civil war would be necessary if former President Donald Trump does not win the 2024 presidential election.
“I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County’s J.D. Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved,” Lang said, as the crowd erupted in raucous applause.
Three days later, Lang apologized on X, claiming that the statement “didn’t accurately represent his views.” But while the Ohio legislator’s statement may not represent his views, it certainly seems to represent those of other Trump supporters.
Since campaigning for the 2024 race began, several MAGA loyalists have openly advocated for political violence in the event the real estate mogul loses the race.
“The right to have your vote count and your voice heard in free and fair elections is at the heart of our democracy, but Donald Trump and his allies are deliberately working to undermine that right,” said Abhi Rahman of the Democratic National Committee. “Donald Trump and his far-right allies are doing and saying anything they can to gain power.”
As my colleague David Corn has extensively covered, “stochastic terrorism” is a key part of Trump’s playbook, with the ex-president openly encouraging his followers to commit violent acts on his behalf. Corn writes:
Stochastic terrorism is more indirect and perhaps more effective: It’s pinning a bull’s-eye on the back of an opponent in a volatile situation—perhaps suggesting the world would be safer without this supposed threat—knowing this could lead to violence against that target. It’s indirect incitement, inspiring someone else to do the dirty work.
Trump is a master of this. After all, he got thousands of his cultists to storm the Capitol and try to prevent the congressional certification of his loss to Joe Biden. In recent days, he has fired up his stochastic terrorism machine. For a Rosh Hashanah messaged posted on social media earlier this month, Trump railed against “liberal Jews”: “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives! Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!”
And if these politicians, pundits, and podcast hosts are to be believed, they’re more than willing to take drastic measures if the ex-president doesn’t win come November.
Shelby Busch, Arizona Republican National Convention Chair
In June, a video dropped revealing Shelby Busch, Arizona’s RNC chair, asserting that she’d lynch Stephen Richer, a fellow Republican who helped oversee the 2020 presidential election in Georgia’s Maricopa County.
“Let’s pretend that this gentleman over here was running for county recorder,” Busch said, according to the Washington Post. “And he’s a good Christian man that believes what we believe. We can work with that, right? That, that’s unity.”
She continued: “But if Stephen Richer walked in this room, I would lynch him. I don’t unify with people who don’t believe the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country. And so, I want to make that clear when we talk about what it means to unify.”
Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore
In August of last year, State Senator Colton Moore, who was banned from the House floor in March for calling another legislator “corrupt” in a speech, suggested a civil war would break out if Trump wasn’t reelected.
“Do you want a civil war? I don’t want a civil war,” said Moore in a video. “I don’t want to have to draw my rifle. I want to make this problem go away with my legislative means of doing so.”
Kandiss Taylor, Host of Jesus, Guns, and Babies
Right-wing podcast host Kandiss Taylor has been aboard the Trump Train for quite some time. In 2022, after losing the Georgia GOP gubernatorial primary to Brian Kemp by 70 points, she refused to concede the results, following in Trump’s footsteps. So it should come as no surprise that she said, in 2023, that her side was prepared to “use guns” against Trump’s perceived enemies.
“This is war, and I hope and pray it gets resolved before we use guns…we’re at war right now, a war for our freedom,” said Taylor on a podcast in 2023.
Michigan State Rep. Matt Maddock
In August 2023, Michigan state Rep. Matt Maddock was caught on tape saying Democrats’ opponents would “shoot someone,” and the country would descend into civil war, if the government continued to charge Trump’s followers with election crimes.
“The goal is communism, right?” Maddock said during a fundraiser in his Michigan home, according to the Michigan Advance. “Or Marxism, the Democrats’ dream, right? But what’s going to happen before that? Someone’s going to get so pissed off, they’re going to shoot someone.”
Maddock continued: “That’s what’s going to happen. Or we’re going to have a civil war or some sort of revolution. That’s where this is going. And when that happens, we’re going to get squashed. The people here are going to be the first ones to go.”
He later compared the prosecution of January 6 protesters to Nazis leading Jewish people to the gas chambers during the Holocaust.
North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson
North Carolina’s lieutenant governor is known for his wild statements, but this one takes the cake. On June 30, Robinson went on a screed about “wicked people” on the left, wrapping up his rant by appearing to endorse deadly force on those who oppose him.
“Some folks need killing!” Robinson said, according to the New Republic. “It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity!”
Correction, July 27: An earlier version of this article misattributed a quote about a “second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” It was said by Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.
