According to a number of conservative and even left-leaning voices, there is considerable fear that the recently-announced indictment of former President Donald Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a sign of what one called a “cold civil war.”
In a recent interview, Princeton professor Eddie Glaude said that “Trump is an avatar” of a wider feeling of division among Americans. The professor said that Trump “represents all of these sorts of grievances, these fears, this sense of marginalization, the skepticism about government.”
Conservative commentators have warned that the charges against the former president are a sign of a much wider issue. If a former president can be charged in such a manner, they say, there will be far larger consequences.
This week, popular radio host and co-founder of The Blaze Glenn Beck told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the indictment of Trump is a sign that “by 2025 we are going to be at war” and that there will be a “virtual police state.”
“It’s not far off,” he said.
Beck asked, “where are the Republicans?”
The radio host said that Trump was “taking the bullets” for the American people for years. Beck also said that there will be a severe backlash against Democrats in the 2024 election.
The former president has been firm on the issue, describing the District Attorney’s actions as a witch hunt. The Secret Service has indicated that Trump will travel to New York this coming week for an arraignment.
Many conservatives closed ranks around the former president after the indictment was announced. Potential 2024 primary opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) called the charges the “weaponization of the legal system.”
He also said that Florida would not cooperate with any extradition requests.
The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head.
It is un-American.
The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is…
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 30, 2023
DeSantis wasn’t the only one that blasted the charges. Former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) said that Bragg was carrying out the indictment “for political points” and that “it’s more about revenge than it is about justice.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has not formally entered the race, said that the indictment is a “terrible message” from the United States to other countries across the world.
