Donald Trump says a lot of things. And now that he’s once again the presumptive GOP nominee for president, there’s understandably been renewed attention on what those things actually are. So when, at a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, the former president warned that there would be “a bloodbath” if he didn’t win the presidential election this fall, a lot of people noticed, particularly in light of Trump’s repeated celebration of the attempted insurrection in his name on January 6, 2021. In this case, however, Trump’s rhetoric may not have been a threat of some orgy of postelection violence — at least this time. Below is a quick look at what he did and didn’t say.
What did Trump say?
Speaking at a rally in support of Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno’s Senate campaign on Saturday, Trump seemed to offer an aside while speaking about the auto industry and how he would be a better president than Joe Biden when it came to dealing with trade and China: “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
It didn’t take long for the comment to light a fire across social media. The Biden campaign soon responded, too, framing Trump’s remark as a call for violence. “He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge,” a Biden-campaign spokesperson said on Saturday.
A Trump-campaign spokesperson, meanwhile, quickly posited that the former president was actually saying that “Biden’s policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and autoworkers.”
Trump himself posted on Truth Social that “the Fake News Media, and their Democrat Partners in the destruction of our Nation, pretended to be shocked at my use of the word BLOODBATH, even though they fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry.”
Obviously, inserting “economic” in front of “bloodbath” — which Trump did not do on Saturday — changes the meaning significantly. But regarding the context, the Trump team probably has a point.
Here’s that section of Trump’s speech, with the bloodbath comment highlighted:
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 … you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected. Now 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 will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.
Now, it’s certainly possible that Trump — who is not exactly known for carefully speaking about anything, ever — was predicting both an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and a violent bloodbath for the country if he loses the election. Dark, apocalyptic rhetoric about the looming destruction of America, and the retribution he will personally enact on his enemies, has been central to Trump’s stump speech for a long time, and he’s been more than clear about all the extreme stuff he intends to do if reelected. But he’s usually more explicit about all that, and he usually doesn’t feature it in the middle of some rant about tariffs.
Trump also had all kinds of teleprompter issues and memory issues on Saturday, for what it’s worth.
Even if Trump didn’t threaten a violent postelection ‘bloodbath’ — he wasn’t hiding his pro-insurrection views.
Trump is a January 6 fan, and he’s been making that clear for a very long time. He made it clear, again, at the same rally on Saturday (when he wasn’t talking about the auto industry).
As he has for the past year, Trump once again stood at attention and saluted while loudspeakers played a recording of the national anthem sung by the J6 Choir — which is composed of imprisoned members of the January 6 mob who stormed the U.S. Capitol.
And he then again vowed to release the January 6 “hostages” as soon as he gets back in the White House:
He suggested the election had life-or-death stakes in other ways, too. He repeated his statements dehumanizing migrants, claiming that “in some cases, they’re not people” and referring to them as “animals” he would turn back as president. He also predicted the end of American democracy if he lost, telling the crowd, “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful,” if he didn’t win.
And he said he has been more persecuted than assassination victim Abraham Lincoln.
This post has been updated.
