Conservatives are turning on each other following Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial, as extremists attack the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) for respecting the criminal justice system’s decision.
Former President Trump stood trial for 34 charges of falsifying business records to cover up the hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from disclosing a sexual encounter she says occurred between the pair. There was one count for every document he falsified to try to make the hush money payment look like a legal fee. The payment was made during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been seen as an attempt to mislead voters. Jury deliberations began on May 29, and by May 30, the court reached its verdict and declared the former president guilty of all 34 felony counts.
Trump is now the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony. Although he plans to appeal the verdict and can still run for president as a convicted criminal, it was a major victory for justice and demonstrated that no one is above the law. Of course, the response from the far-right has been predictably horrific. After challenging America’s electoral system, MAGA supporters are now also challenging the country’s justice system by refusing to accept the verdict and threatening violence over the jury’s decision. They have even taken to harassing and threatening any members of their own party who do not have a belligerent response to the verdict.
MAGA supports turn on the CRNC
Following Trump’s guilty verdict, the CRNC issued a brief statement on X. The College Republicans organization issued a response that was noticeably tame for the severity and significance of the former president’s verdict. Although it claimed the trial was politically motivated, it was one of very few Republican and conservative organizations to urge acceptance of the verdict. The CRNC pointed out that the decision was made by a jury “in accordance with our criminal justice system” and should be respected just as the election results should be respected in November.
Again, it was hardly a groundbreaking statement, but it was apparently enough to trigger MAGA supporters. College Republicans quickly began trending on X, with nearly all the posts coming from fellow conservatives attacking the organization. The post’s comments were quickly flooded with users calling them “losers” and “clowns,” while others warned that the organization had been infiltrated by leftists. Even many fellow Republican organizations and members of other College Republicans groups began releasing statements saying the CRNC does not represent them. College Republicans of America president Will Donahue claimed, “Our students love President Trump and will continue to support him.”
Many posts claimed the CRNC was filled with cowards who needed to be “fighters” and directly defy the jury’s ruling.
Some users have taken to using slurs against the members of the CRNC and have even urged fellow users to relentlessly harass and mock chairman Courtney Britt. The extreme response is perplexing, as the statement was hardly worth noting. Respecting this country’s justice system is truly the bare minimum these groups can do, and the CRNC also had to throw in an unsubstantiated comment that the trial was “politically motivated.” The fact that a Republican organization would begin trending on social media and earn the vitriol of its own party over such a half-hearted statement is absurd.
Essentially, MAGA supporters are claiming that anyone who does not blatantly defy America’s justice system and threaten insurrection today does not represent the Republican party. Such a display of hatred against their own party members for merely accepting the country’s laws and legal processes is very concerning. It demonstrates MAGA supporters’ goals to ensure that the entire party is solely made up of extremists threatening to overthrow the American government and wage war on their fellow citizens. Moderate Republicans are starting to disappear as harboring extreme views and behaving defiantly and belligerently towards America is evidently becoming a requirement to call oneself a Republican.
