Legacy media spent months spinning former President Donald Trump as a “Nazi” and a “threat to democracy.” So when he won the election in a landslide, the media had primed leftists for the natural reaction: mental breakdowns and, potentially, violence.

As Trump gained on Vice President Kamala Harris across the board, the corporate media’s false confidence — which they also instilled in their listeners — began to dissipate. Videos of leftists breaking down in tears flooded X.

“Reddit Lies,” an X account, posted numerous examples of mental breakdowns on election night. Before the election, one user cited a recent poll by Ann Selzer (nonsensically forecasting Harris would take Iowa by storm) and predicted a blue wave come Election Day, which is laughable given the Trump landslide.

But as The Federalist reported, legacy media was pushing this poll to give Harris supporters false hope. This resulted in massive mental breakdowns for leftists when delusion met truth. 

One Reddit user purportedly divorced his wife for voting for Trump. Another, apparently a teacher of high school seniors, said two students had panic attacks by 8:30 a.m. the day after the election. Another user claimed to see a swastika on Chicago’s Trump Tower — but it was nowhere to be found.

The breakdowns also took a darker turn. The platform’s “Suicide Watch” thread has been flooded with comments about suicide due to Trump’s victory. A father of autistic children said he attempted suicide, and others made similar claims. 

Even more directed threats of violence toward others — namely Trump, J.D. Vance, and their supporters. One user said to “find every trumper you know — and go kill them in their sleep. Burn their house down …” Another suggested someone try to kill Trump again, saying “theres [sic] still another 4 years left for another couple of attempts.” More echoed similar assassination threats.

The FBI arrested 25-year-old Isaac Sissel, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the morning of Election Day for threatening to kill “conservative” people if Trump won, according to a Department of Justice press release. Sissel sent a threat to the FBI National Threat Operations Center on Nov. 2.

“I shall carry out an attack against conservative christan, [sic] filth in the event trump wins the election. I have a stolen ar15 and a target I refuse to name so I can continue to get away with my plans,” Sissel wrote, according to the release. “Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there’s not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack.”

Legacy media are directly responsible for the mental and physical harm after the election. The Washington Post claimed on Nov. 6 that Trump’s victory “threatens an already battered democracy,” and Vox claimed the same day that democracy is in “grave danger.” 

This comes less than two weeks after corporate media echoed Democrat rhetoric, smearing Trump’s rally at the popular venue Madison Square Garden as a “Nazi” event, as The Federalist previously reported. But all throughout Trump’s campaign, leftists have been sowing fears about a second presidency — not letting up even after the first assassination attempt on Trump. In the final days of the campaign, Harris primed Democrats for violence by painting Trump as a “dictator.”

Corporate media have since turned to console their left-wing audiences with fluff pieces on how to “cope” with the results. But if Trump were really a “Nazi,” a “threat to democracy,” or a “dictator” — as prominent outlets have claimed — why expect anything less than mental breakdowns and violence?

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo's editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.