Remember when Dmitry Medvedev said Texas was poised to start civil war in the US?

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is one of the most outspoken war hawks and politicians in Moscow, but in February 2024 it was not the war with Ukraine that he was blasting off about but rather the potential for civil war in America he thought could be launched by Texas.

Medvedev, who is the current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, floated a worrying warning on January 26th on X about the potential for Texas to kick off a new civil war. But before we look at what Medvedev said, a little context is needed. 

In January 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott was engaged in a rather complicated legal battle with the Department of Justice as he tried to find ways to close the border between the state of Texas and Mexico to halt illegal migration into the state. 

As part of Abbott’s efforts, he ordered razor wire to be installed along parts of the southern border according to The Guardian, actions which the news outlet noted were not within Abbott’s powers according to the law. 

Immigration matters are strictly within the purview of the federal government according to the 2012 Supreme Court case Arizona v. United States. However, Abbott invoked the invasion clause in order to bypass US law. 

The Guardian described the invasion clause as a “loophole” in the constitutions of both the United States and Texas. Abbott argued that the migrants on the southern border were akin to a foreign enemy force. 

Abbott’s move was in response to a January 22nd Supreme Court 5-4 ruling that would allow federal border agents to remove the razor wire placed along the country’s border, a court decision that only inflamed tensions.

On January 24th, Abbott released a statement in which he accused President Joe Biden of violating his “oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress,” which in turn has led to a new constitutional crisis. 

Abbott argued that Texas had a “right to self-defense” against migrants crossing the border, and Newsweek pointed out that shortly after Abbot issued his public statement, 25 other state governors voiced their support. 

Conservative media outlets and political pundits also began reporting that the situation might suggest a “civil war could be underway” according to Newsweek, which also noted most blamed Biden for what was happening. 

It was against the backdrop of the issues between Texas and the federal government that Medvedev posted his take on the unfolding situation to Twitter and suggested that Texas could launch a civil war. 

“Establishing a People's Republic of Texas is getting more and more real; something I wrote about at the end of 2022 in a jocular forecast,” Medvedev wrote before he went on to say that Biden couldn’t handle the migration crisis in the United States. 

Medvedev wrote that what was happening at that time in the United States was “yet another vivid example of the US hegemony getting weaker” through the choices that the country and its leaders made on domestic policy. 

“With their inaction, these very authorities can drive the people of Texas up the wall – the very people who are even now mulling over separation. There are known cases in history when some states tried to break away from the Union,” Medvedev wrote. 

“The end result was the bloody civil war which cost thousands upon thousands of lives. Either way, America can face an unsolvable constitutional crisis, and for long, fall into the abyss of a new, possibly even more destructive civil confrontation,” Medvedev added. 

However, the former Russian president’s comments weren't been taken seriously by US officials according to Newsweek. One State Department official told the news organization: "We know by now not to take Medvedev seriously," adding that it was "standard Kremlin nonsense."

Medevedev's X warning wasn't the first time he criticized the domestic disarray the United States had been experiencing. In August 2023, he wrote that the problems in American society were “irreconcilable” according to the Russian News Agency (TASS). 

"America is currently in a state of disarray and conflict with itself. In my view, this discord is irreconcilable in a way, and such domestic conflicts often lead to civil wars…I don’t know what will happen in the US but this is the current level of conflict," Medvedev said. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Duma.gov.ru, CC BY 4.0