In her blog post on July 23, 2024, Heather Cox Richardson reported on the comments of an Ohio state senator following the stump speech by J.D. Vance after the Republican convention:

Media outlets gave more attention to the Ohio state senator who preceded Vance, George Lang, who began a chant of “fight, fight, fight” and told the audience: “I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved.” 

While the senator apologized later for the civil war threat, does anyone think that Trump and his MAGA followers will quietly accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if Trump loses? Trump has already stated that he will accept the results only if he agrees with the outcome. Vance is echoing Trump’s remarks that the last election was stolen by the Democrats and that this will never be allowed to happen again. Even today after all the lawsuits regarding the 2020 election have failed to prove that the 2020 election was fraudulent, the percentage of Republicans who answer polls that it was stolen remains over 60 percent.

Good heavens! A strong majority of Republicans still believe this lie? How can this be? What are they smoking?

And civil war? Really? And a state senator said this?

We can’t let the threats from Trump discourage us. For the first time in at least a year, I am starting to feel better about the prospects of beating Donald Trump. With Kamala heading up the ticket, I believe we will win. Trump is now showing as many signs of aging and incoherency as Biden. Vance is not going to help with the undecided, the women voters, and the independents, who will ultimately determine who wins. 

But make no mistake: It is going to be brutal. Trump and Vance will pull every nasty trick out of their bag that they can including dog whistling aimed to put doubts that any woman of color is fit to run for the highest office. The attacks will be painful, personal, and unrelenting.

I also believe that they will try to play the dirty tricks that they have falsely been accusing the Democrats of and have probably already begun planning how to challenge the results if Trump loses. Consider this a Custer’s-Last-Stand moment for Trump and his MAGA fanatics.

Senator Lang’s threats are especially troubling. What happens if he is right? What happens if the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers try again but with a stronger force than in 2021? And this time, the insurrectionists have had more time to plan and organize. This is certainly an early warning signal that the election of 2024 may not be over when the vote counting concludes.  

So put on your combat armor and prepare for a brutal fight. But do not despair. Our country will come through this anticipated dark night of the soul and be stronger for it–and with hopes for a gentler, kinder, fairer, and more inclusive nation.