Donald Trump‘s resounding victory over Kamala Harris has left his far-right supporters thirsting for blood.
“Many many many executions are warranted,” someone wrote on Truth Social, owned by the president-elect. “These traitors are a terminal cancer that MUST BE completely eradicated to make America healthy again.”
Another post on Truth Social, as reported by Wired, called for Kamala Harris’ execution: “It sounds like a Military Court should sentence her to death. Yes?”
Death threats against high-profile politicians are nothing new; in August, a Virginia man was charged with making numerous death threats against the vice-president, posting 19 times on social media about his desire to shoot, stab and burn her alive.
But the threats have more resonance in the current political environment. The former president and president-to-be made retribution a central theme in his campaign, calling for the prosecution and, in one case, the execution of political rivals. Those threats have been echoed by cronies such as former adviser Steve Bannon, who warned Trump’s opponents Tuesday night they will “pay the price for trying to destroy this country.”
“You stole the 2020 election, you’ve mocked and ridiculed and put people in prison and broken people’s lives because you said this thing was stolen,” Bannon said on his podcast. “This entire phony thing is getting swept out. Biden’s getting swept out. Kamala Harris is getting swept out. MSNBC is getting swept out. The Justice Department’s getting swept out. The FBI’s getting swept out.”
Steve Bannon has a message; pic.twitter.com/pIni6FH0ZZ
— Anonymous Patriot (@0331online) November 6, 2024
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a common target of the far-right hate machine. Those threats eventually led to the brutal beating of her elderly husband, Paul Pelosi, in 2022 by a man his lawyers said was “radicalized through his obsessive consumption of media amplifying extreme beliefs.”
On Tuesday night, a commenter on Patriots.win, a pro-Trump forum, shared an AI drawing of Nancy Pelosi with a noose around her neck, about to be hanged. Similar images of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversaw Biden administration’s immigration policy, were also posted.
“The gallows await …” wrote one commenter.
Trump has frequently employed violent imagery when speaking about his desire for revenge. As witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021, some of his most fervent supporters have shown their willingness to act on his basest impulses, seeing themselves as soldiers in his war against the “deep state.”
The post-election threats feature a heavy dose of misogyny. One viral meme, which Wired reports was shared widely across platforms on Wednesday, featured the caption “RELEASE THE PROJECT 2025 HANDMAIDS TALE RAPE SQUADS,” referring to the novel and TV show that presents a dystopian future in which women are brutally subjugated.
Another post on Patriots.win featured a meme of a shirtless Trump in a boxing ring with the text, “First Man In History to Beat Two Women.”
There was plenty of racism in the posts, some coming from more mainstream forums like Talking Points USA, which played a key role in the Trump campaign’s get out the vote initiative.
Posts from the extremist Trump supporters face condemnation across the board.
“What exactly is wrong with these people?? Good sweet lord!” questioned on user on X.
“THIS is Trump’s America. Hate, bigotry and misogyny unleashed,” said another.
