Following former President Donald Trump’s indictment, Rumble promoted videos of right-wing pundits and QAnon figures pushing civil war rhetoric on its “Battle Leaderboard Top 50.”

On March 18, Trump announced on his Truth Social account that he was expecting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to indict and arrest him the following Tuesday, March 21, telling his followers to “PROTEST” and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK.” The posts came while a Manhattan grand jury heard testimony as part of an ongoing investigation into Trump’s alleged payment of hush money to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in 2016 to cover up an alleged affair. Trump is now expected to surrender to prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday, April 4.

In the weeks since, Trump’s right-wing media allies have gone well beyond merely downplaying and defending his wrongdoing. The right-wing echo chamber has devolved into full blown wartime rhetoric, comparing the indictment to the atrocities committed by communist dictator Joseph Stalin, fearmongering that America will soon witness political executions, and predicting or alluding to — if not encouraging or calling for — retaliation including violence and civil war.

Unsurprisingly, the right-wing pundits who have been encouraged to make a home for themselves on Rumble are also agitating their audiences toward civil war. Launched in 2013, Rumble plays an important role in the alternative digital infrastructure, which caters to the extreme right. For years, conservatives have falsely claimed that social media platforms are biased against them, while building alternative platforms with little to no content moderation or concern for user safety. Rumble co-founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski has echoed that sentiment, promoting Rumble as an alternative to Google-owned YouTube that is “immune from cancel culture.”

Rumble publishes a “Battle Leaderboard Top 50” on its platform, ranking top performing videos from the previous 24 hours or so and promoting them on a list that is prominently displayed in two different spots on its homepage. Media Matters found that Rumble promoted numerous videos from right-wing pundits and QAnon figures seemingly agitating for civil war on this leaderboard.

Right-wing pundits and QAnon figures pushing civil war rhetoric featured on Rumble’s leaderboard

• Right-wing “Rumble Exclusive” show Redacted News did a livestream claiming that the country is “on Civil War watch” following Trump’s indictment. This video was ranked #8 on Rumble’s leaderboard on March 21. [Rumble, 3/20/23]
• Conspiracy theorist Tim Pool shared a video to Rumble claiming that civil war is “looming” following Trump’s indictment. This video was ranked #44 on Rumble’s leaderboard on March 22. [Rumble, 3/21/23]
• Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk held a special livestream on March 30 as reports of Trump’s indictment in New York emerged during which he called for retribution against his political opponents, who he claimed are “acting like Stalinists.” He added, “We must make them pay a price and a penalty” by indicting Democrats, claiming they “crossed the Rubicon” and have “declared quote-unquote the Roman Civil War.” This video was ranked #12 on Rumble’s leaderboard on March 31. [Rumble, 3/30/23]
• The next day, Kirk did another livestream and used a thumbnail image featuring the Roman army under Caesar fording the Rubicon river, reacting to Trump’s indictment. This video was ranked #15 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• Extremist conspiracy theorist and QAnon sympathizer Lara Logan appeared as a guest on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast. When Bannon claimed that the “American version of the globalist elites have now gone to outright war with the populist nationalist movement,” Logan replied by saying that “this is almost the moment that we've been waiting for,” that “things are escalating,” that we’re “heading to a breaking point,” and that “we are going to see a fight to the death.” This video was ranked #39 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• Fox News host and “Rumble Exclusive” creator Dan Bongino did a livestream during which he described Trump’s indictment as crossing a red line and warning, “Get out of blue states as soon as you can. … If they can do what they did up in New York to Trump last night, completely fabricate and bootstrap a crime out of nothing, to try to put a former president in handcuffs, to parade him like a banana republic in front of the camera, you think you have any rights? Get out as soon as you can.” This video was ranked #1 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• QAnon influencer Juan O. Savin – who has previously threatened civil war – published a video on Rumble following Trump’s indictment titled “This Is A Battle To The Death” in which he and his guest agreed that “the American people and the world have woken up.” This video was ranked #26 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 2. [Rumble, 4/1/23] 
• QAnon channel "And We Know" did a livestream warning about a “day of reckoning” following Trump’s indictment. This video was ranked #3 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• “Rumble Exclusive” creator JP Sears shared a video questioning whether Trump’s indictment signaled “the end of our democracy.” This video was ranked #30 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• Right-wing outlet LFA TV did a livestream claiming that “THEY WILL DESTROY OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY TO ‘GET TRUMP.’” This video was ranked #22 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]
• QAnon influencer SGANON published a video claiming “WW3 Events Are Coming” following Trump’s indictment. This video was ranked #41 on Rumble’s leaderboard on April 1. [Rumble, 3/31/23]