US ‘Civil War’ Predicted on Russian State TV

Russian politician Oleg Matveychev recently said the imprisonment of Donald Trump could lead to “civil war” in the United States amid the former president’s guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.

Matveychev, a member of the Russian State Duma and supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently appeared on the state-owned television channel Russia-1 to discuss the verdict. A segment of his television appearance was shared to YouTube on Saturday by Russian Media Monitor, a watchdog group created by journalist Julia Davis “in an effort to combat Russian propaganda.”

In a case brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a New York jury on Thursday found Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which he denies. Trump has maintained his innocence and says the case is politically motivated. His legal team says they will fight the case, which will include an appeal, if necessary.

The former president now faces possible jail time, which will be determined at his July 11 sentencing, just days before the Republican National Convention where he is expected to accept the GOP party’s nomination.

United Russia member Matveychev, a party that supports Putin, said imprisoning “the most popular man” could have dire impacts on American society, adding, “This may not only discredit American institutions but cause very severe unrest and even civil war.”

“If this does not lead to civil war, this would mean a new era of the American society. It’s evolution to a totalitarian regime,” Matveychev said.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian embassy and Trump’s campaign for comment via email on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the term “civil war” has surfaced among Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters in the aftermath of Trump’s guilty verdict, both on social media and at in-person protests.

Political commentator Joey Mannarino wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday just moments after the verdict: “The Civil War just began. We no longer live in a democracy.”

In another post he added: “As of today, with this fake guilty verdict against Trump, America is no longer the United States.”

Tim Pool, a conservative commentator with over 2 million followers, wrote: “war.”

On Friday, MAGA supporters were stationed outside Trump Tower in Manhattan where the former president was giving a press conference, with one man wearing a MAGA hat telling Newsweek, “I believe these far radical left are trying to start a civil war.”

Another supporter, draped in a Trump flag, told Newsweek that if Trump were to be arrested, it would be “the cherry on top that sets off the civil war or World War III.”

In Saturday’s video, Matveychev, who was sanctioned in 2022 by the United Kingdom in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also said, “When the most popular man in the land is imprisoned, when all the norms on which their systems were based are violated, we will be dealing with an absolutely new America. You can call this America an absolutely fascist nation.”

In criminal trials like Trump’s, the jury is responsible for determining the verdict, while the judge decides the sentencing.