Numerous media outlets seized on Donald Trump’s comment at an Ohio rally this weekend that “a bloodbath” would occur if he were not elected president in November, incorrectly framing it as him threatening that his supporters will riot.
A longer clip with the context of the comment reveals that Trump was not talking about political violence. Instead, he was talking about a deluge of Mexican and Chinese-made cars wrecking domestic manufacturing numbers, which he warned would happen if his tariff policy is not implemented.
The occasion for the speech was a campaign event at an airfield in Dayton for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, a Trump ally who is going up against establishment candidate Matt Dolan.
We are witnessing the invention of the "bloodbath" hoax in real-time
Unfortunately for them, we have 𝕏
Media narrative: Full context: pic.twitter.com/jaYDvtGomn
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 17, 2024
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Nevertheless, dozens of press outlets reported the “bloodbath” comment without mention of the automotive industry. “Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses,” read a headline from the New York Times, and Rolling Stone wrote: “Trump Says There Will Be a ‘Bloodbath’ and Elections Will End if He Isn’t Reelected.”
This is incredible, pages and pages of the same exact lie about Trump. pic.twitter.com/QPCGRbOc8b
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 17, 2024
This follows from a trend among the media commentariat to paint Trump’s 2024 election bid as a vengeful warpath that will spiral into a dictatorship with punishments for all who opposed him should he win in November.
Members of the media also claimed Trump dehumanized migrants at a different part of his speech, with the Washington Post writing: “Trump says some undocumented immigrants are ‘not people.’” This was also taken out of context, as he was specifically referring to freed convicts and gang members.
Speech with full context
pic.twitter.com/7ly7Cf3fEG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2024
Trump responded to the media fiasco by characterizing it as a hitjob from allies of the Democratic Party and made it clear he was talking about the American automobile industry.
During the 2020 Democratic primary election, Joe Biden also warned Democratic donors of a “bloodbath” between him and Senator Bernie Sanders. NBC News used the term “bloodbath” to describe the 2022 midterm elections. And critics pointed to Kamala Harris’ remarks in 2020 about the George Floyd rioters, saying “They’re not going to let up, and they should not,” as an example of a true call for political violence.
Nevertheless, major news anchors such as Joe Scarborough remained unperturbed by the corrections. “It’s just bullshit. He knew what he was doing, we’re not stupid, Americans aren’t stupid. He was talking about…” Scarborough said, momentarily trailing off. “…a bloodbath! Sometimes a bloodbath means a bloodbath!”
Morning Joe is having a meltdown at people calling him out for pushing the Bloodbath Hoax: “These people may be stupid, we’re not.” pic.twitter.com/ML2NfVKWSG
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 18, 2024
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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