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Donald Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ comment on Saturday sparked a commotion online. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough made a post on X addressing Trump’s remark. However, he later deleted it after Elon Musk commented on his tweet, defending the former president.
During a re-election campaign in Dayton, Ohio on March 16, Trump said:
“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.”
Soon, Trump made headlines for his remark and conservative commentators slammed media outlets for taking his comment out of context. Joe Scarborough took to X on Saturday and shared a video of the January 6 United States Capitol attack from another user. He described the massive altercation that unfolded as “Donald Trump’s America”, claiming that the former president is proud of it.
Joe added:
“Promised another “bloodbath” if he loses again.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk slammed Joe’s dubbing of the January 6 attack as a ‘bloodbath’, saying:
“Trump was referring to job losses in the auto industry when he used that word. Your post is extremely misleading.”
Elon Musk calls out 'legacy media' over Trump's "bloodbath" comment
Several conservatives spoke in defense of Trump after his "bloodbath" remark at the Ohio rally went viral. Political commentator Ian Miles Cheong shared a longer version of Trump's speech from the campaign. He added a screenshot of several media outlets reporting on the same with mention of 'bloodbath' in their headlines.
Ian claimed the media was lying about Trump's narrative and that he was talking about the auto manufacturing industry. The commentator further called the media "extremely disingenuous" for taking the former president's statement out of context and spreading the same lie.
Elon Musk quoted Ian's post and wrote:
"Legacy media lies"
The X owner later shared a video of the full context of Trump's comment. The 77-year-old was originally talking about how Mexico has taken over 34 percent of the automobile manufacturing business in the US in 30 years. Trump claimed China was planning to build cars in Mexico, thinking they would sell those in the United States without paying any border taxes.
Donald Trump addressed the President of China Xi Jinping and continued:
"If you're listening President Xi and you and I are friends but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you're building in Mexico right now and you think you're gonna get that, you're gonna not hire Americans and you're gonna sell the cars to us. No."
Trump added that the United States will issue a 100 percent tariff on every car that crosses the border after being manufactured in Mexico, saying:
"You're not gonna be able to sell those guys if I get elected."
Right after saying this, Trump made the "bloodbath" comment, referring to what could happen if he does not get elected as the next President of the United States.
Republicans defend Donald Trump against backlash for "bloodbath" comment
Several other Republicans defended Trump on his comment. Ohio representative Mike Turner said it was clear that Trump used the term about what could happen to the auto industry if he loses the election. Mike claimed the former president did not imply any political violence.
British writer and Novara Media’s co-founder Aaron Bastani criticized NBC News’ report on Trump’s comment:
“This is categorical, unashamed fake news. It’s active misinformation. Trump was talking about Chinese cars manufactured in Mexico! Utterly appalling - people don’t trust the media because of this stuff.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resonated with Trump’s sentiments about the auto industry. She wrote:
“Democrat mandated switch to EV’s and all the regulatory changes that come with the Green New Deal climate agenda is already hurting car dealerships and auto manufacturers.”
Ohio Republican representative JD Vance called the media outlets' reports on Trump's viral comment propaganda and said they should be ashamed of it.
Senator Bill Cassidy said the way Donald Trump speaks, subjects him to frequent criticism. However, he explained that the definition of “bloodbath” can also mean an economic disaster. Cassidy added if Trump was referring to the auto industry, then the context for his comment can be found.
