Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin apparently thinks only bad things can come from prosecuting Donald Trump for his many alleged crimes ― including a possible civil war.
Palin, who rose to national prominence as Republican John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, suggested that possibility on Newsmax soon after the former president surrendered to authorities Thursday evening in Fulton County, Georgia, where he faces 13 felony charges related to his efforts to steal the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden.
Trump faces 91 counts total across four criminal cases, including for his coup attempt, his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and a hush money scheme involving Stormy Daniels.
Although it’s typical for a person accused of a felony to be arrested, Newsmax host Eric Bolling felt compelled to ask Palin if Trump’s arrest was proof of a two-tiered justice system.
Palin responded to the Republican red meat with gusto: “I mean, I think those who are conducting this travesty and creating this two-tier system of justice, I want to ask them: What the heck? Do you want us to be in civil war? Because that’s what’s going to happen.”
Palin vowed that “we’re not going to keep putting up with this,” and praised Bolling for suggesting that “we need to get angry.”
She added: “We do need to rise up and take our country back.”
Palin then griped that the Republican National Committee has “the funds” and “the platform” to stoke “collective anger” over the indictments, but that “they’re too timid, and a bunch of frickin’ RINOs [Republicans in name only] running the thing.”
She warned that the RNC “better get their stuff together, or I have to ask them, too: What do they want as an outcome of this, civil war?”
You can see the segment below, courtesy of Media Matters For America:
Not surprisingly, Palin’s suggestion that a civil war could be nigh garnered a strong reaction from social media users.
And she had a bone to pick with Ed Krassenstein, a prominent social media commentator with nearly 1 million followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Stop calling for civil war,” Krassenstein wrote when sharing the clip of Palin’s Newsmax appearance. “Stop implying that we are on the brink of Civil War. We are not. Just Stop!”
Palin fired back with a long post that said she was unfamiliar with Krassenstein, but that she’d “address your dumbass comment about me” because “you have some followers.”
“WHEN DID I CALL FOR CIVIL WAR?? I ASKED if that’s what you Leftist whackos wanted to happen, with your lies & disruptions & division,” she wrote, using all-caps for portions of her diatribe.
Krassenstein responded that he never said she “called for a civil war,” but noted she “pushed the idea of a civil war, which you undeniably did.”
He then accused her of gaslighting.
Palin hadn’t responded to Krassenstein’s retort as of Friday afternoon, but she continued to make heated posts on X and Instagram.
Although the First Amendment does allow for fiery rhetoric, MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan recently noted that it’s increasingly been spilling into actual right-wing violence since Jan. 6, 2021.
“Now you might say, again, ‘That’s just talk, talk is cheap.’ But it’s not just talk,” Hasan said. “Political violence is not just something abstract or something that might happen at some point in the future. It’s happening right now.”