The top post at the online forum TheDonald on Wednesday morning was titled ā€œFuck Mike Pence. šŸ–•šŸ»šŸ–•šŸ»šŸ–•šŸ».ā€ And chilling calls for violence against the former vice president were rising to the top of the comments thread.

Pence plays a starring role in the new indictment of Donald Trump, which quotes Trump telling Pence, ā€œYouā€™re too honestā€ after the vice president refused to block certification of Joe Bidenā€™s presidential win.

And Pence met the news of the indictment with harsh criticism of Trump, now a rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Pence tweeted that ā€œanyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.ā€

Special prosecutor Jack Smithā€™s indictment also recalls how Trump, unable to convince Pence to become a co-conspirator in his despotic plot to steal the presidency, instead unleashed a mob of MAGA supporters against him. ā€œAt the Capitol,ā€ the court document reads, ā€œmembers of the crowd chanted, ā€˜Hang Mike Pence!ā€™; ā€˜Where is Pence? Bring him out!ā€™; and ā€˜Traitor Pence!ā€™ā€

Such dark sentiments against Pence now have been revived, at an online forum that played a key role for plotters of the unrest of Jan. 6. TheDonald is a Reddit like forum for the Trumpiest of the Trump faithful. Both individual posts, and the comments on them, rise based on the ā€œupvotingā€ of users, giving a glimpse into the collective psyche of the community.

The top comment on the Pence post called for divine retribution against the ā€œtraitor.ā€ It reads: ā€œMay GOD Strike him down for his lies and treachery to the American People.ā€ But as other commenters piled on, they fantasized about a public execution of Pence at a gallows. ā€œI want to watch his toes dangle in the breeze,ā€ wrote user BigMikesHairyDong.

ā€œI want to stand beside you as witness,ā€ wrote user Totally_Passable adding, ā€œI want to pull the lever.ā€ This user made clear he didnā€™t want the violence to end with Pence: ā€œI long for the day we the people pull these traitorsā€¦ out of their seats screaming, knowing full well what is coming to them, and why its coming.ā€

Instead of recoiling at the call to execute Pence, other users joined the call for mob violence. ā€œNo long drops,ā€ said another user, echoing many of the replies. ā€œHumane execution should be off the table.ā€

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after two or so years of blatant daily violations of reddits ā€œrulesā€, all the while reddit went after moderates and leftists, often without actual rule-breaking behaviour involved.

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