Right-wing media have been issuing dire warnings about an impending civil war for years

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters Joseph diGenova, a former attorney on President Donald Trump’s legal defense team, appeared on Laura Ingraham’s podcast on January 21 to warn listeners[1] that “we are in a civil war in this country.” DiGenova also claimed that he does not anticipate seeing  any “civil discourse in this country for the foreseeable future,” adding, “It’s going to be total war.” He suggested that the solution for the current situation is partly for people to “buy guns.”   DiGenova’s comments were irresponsible and dangerous, but they’re also nothing new within the right-wing media echo chamber. And the conservative media trope that widespread political violence is imminent has real consequences. The Coast Guard lieutenant and self-admitted white nationalist who was recently arrested for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks against Democrats and some media figures searched online for the phrase[2] “civil war if Trump impeached.”  Right-wing media figures have spent years fearmongering about an impending civil war, saying that “the left in America is becoming increasingly radicalized,” highlighting the Democrats' supposed “hatred for Normal Americans,” and claiming that colleges are “literally destroying the country” and pushing us toward a “real civil war.” Here are just a few examples: Fox’s Sean Hannity told his radio listeners[3] that “this country is headed towards a civil war” depending on the outcome of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential elections. While Hannity insisted that he was “not talking about a war,” he claimed, “There’s going to be two sides of this that are fighting and dividing this country at a level we’ve never seen.”  Fox’s Tucker Carlson and a show guest agreed[4] on the idea that colleges are "literally destroying the country" and pushing us toward a "real civil war." In 2017, Carlson said[5] that striving for diversity "gets you to civil war." In 2017, Fox contributor Newt

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