Did Trump Say It Will Be a 'Bloodbath for the Country' If He Doesn't Get Elected? | Snopes.com
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Claim: At a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, 2024, former U.S. President Donald Trump said: "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." Rating: Correct Attribution
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Context
The context of the remark suggests Trump was predicting an "economic bloodbath" for the country, not a literal one, if he loses the 2024 presidential election.
On March 16, 2024, the hashtag "#bloodbath" trended sharply on social media in the wake of a Dayton, Ohio, campaign speech earlier that day by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump stirred up controversy by claiming that if he didn't get elected for another presidential term, "It's going to be a bloodbath for the country."
A video recording of the speech from C-SPAN provides proof that he said exactly those words, which many partisan observers, such as the author of the X (formerly Twitter) post below, interpreted as a threat of post-election violence:
OHIO RALLY: Trump threatens violent "BLOODBATH" if he's not re-elected https://t.co/edVPhuxgHE
— #TheResistance (@SocialPowerOne1) March 17, 2024
The post above linked to an article on Occupy Democrats, a left-wing website, which pushed the "violent bloodbath" interpretation of Trump's words even as it acknowledged that, as the author put it, the context left "wiggle room" for interpretation. What was that context? Broadly speaking, it was economic. Trump was in the middle of talking about the U.S. automobile industry and the country's trade imbalance with China (emphasis added):
China now is building a couple of massive plants where they're going to build the cars in Mexico and think, they think, that they're going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border.
Let me tell you something, to China, 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 going to get that, 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% 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 going to be the least of it, it's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars, they're building massive factories.
As some social media users pointed out in lengthy threads debating what Trump really meant, popular dictionaries like Merriam-Webster include "major economic disaster" as a secondary meaning of "bloodbath."
Ultimately, however, "bloodbath for the country" is an ambiguous figure of speech, and Trump has a controversial history of using violence-tinged language in reference to political opponents, which, even if the intent was metaphorical, sarcastic or just to get media attention, makes it unsurprising that his use of the phrase "bloodbath for the country" drew instant public criticism.
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From Snopes: "The definitive fact checker."
The definitive fact checker
LOL
That's what they call themselves.
I know. It's like a fat man declaring himself skinny. Saying the words don't make it true.
Yes, Trump uses vile violent political rhetoric all the time which is disturbing but not as disturbing as the MAGAs expecting us to not believe what we have seen, what we have heard and what we know to be the facts...
The left does not accept facts.
And the right doesn't know any
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I was directly responding to what vic wrote
We'll now we have one we can agree on: If China is allowed to keep building massive car plants in Mexico and sell those cars in the US, it will be a bloodbath for the US auto industry. I'll bet that most people who didn't hear that speech, now know what it was about.
Was it a stroke of genius, that Trump used the word to get his message out and embarrass the leftist media at the same time? Or was it simply a knee jerk reaction by the Biden campaign that put the media in such an awkward position?
“ the MAGAs expecting us to not believe what we have seen, what we have heard and what we know to be the facts...”
One can lead a horse to water but cannot make it drink.
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There sure are a lot of people that should not be voting.
removed for context
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Direct quote:
If any Democrat said that the GOP would be crying for decades, but trump says it and all we get is "trumpsplainations".
Imagine if Black Lives Matter made a recording singing the national anthem, and Biden saluted it at a campaign rally.
There would be calls from MAGA for his execution.
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Bullshit. Nothing but a “TDS” fantasy driven falsehood.
No, actually what you get is real context, not TDS driven nonsense. Or TDS driven “moderation” for that matter.
Calling everything you don't like "TDS" doesn't trump facts. You cannot just pull it out your ass and trump reality. It is a fake out!
Wrong. [deleted]
Flag on 4.2.2 dismissed as JBB responded to it
Except, I did not flag 4.2.2 so that rule is not even in play...
Honest mistake. Charger is getting used to the new system. I will handle it.
Finally thank you for the clarification.
Cool, now you can tag team comments, you can respond to it and I can flag it. that way you can get your counter punch in and i can get them a ticket for their comment.
lol ….exactly what is happening. You can bet on that.
C’est la vie …..
I’ve said it at least a hundred time since 2015. Please stop exaggerating about Trump or quoting him out of context. The truth is bad enough. Stretching it only gives him credibility.