This controversy has been referred to as the "bloodbath hoax."
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump stated, "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."
March 19, 2024
He further added, "The United Auto Workers, but not their leadership, fully understand what I mean. With the Electric Car Mandate being pushed by Biden, there soon won't be any cars made in the USA."
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A video clip from Trump's Ohio speech was shared online on Saturday evening. The clip, which was taken out of context, featured Trump saying, “I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country." Trump was referring to the potential economic disaster in the auto industry if he was not re-elected.
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Before making the “bloodbath” comments, Trump had addressed President XI, saying, “If you’re listening, President XI, those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars as now we’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected.”
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An initial report from Politico, now archived, did not mention the auto industry, suggesting that the reporter initially published the story based solely on the out-of-context clip. Politico was among the first major news outlets to report on the comments.
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The archived report from Politico attempted to link these comments to Trump's depiction of a "dark picture of the country" and his "heightened rhetoric when addressing the felony charges he is facing in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election."