President Joe Biden and the media peddled a dishonest smear over the weekend, claiming that former President Donald Trump was inciting political violence when he said there would be a “bloodbath” in the country if he does not win in November.
The Trump comment used to advance this false narrative was made by the former president on Saturday during a campaign rally in Ohio, where he was discussing the effect of Biden’s automotive import policies and how he would place tariffs on Chinese vehicles.
“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,” 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. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”
It is quite clear from the context of the quote that Trump is referring to the auto industry and the effect of Biden’s policies on automotive manufacturing jobs. But in an act of blatant dishonesty, the Biden campaign and legacy media outlets twisted the former president’s comments to seem like he was promising violence should he lose the election.
Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said the comment was evidence of “who Donald Trump is” and that he would ensure more political 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,” Singer said, according to the Guardian.
As a political operative, it’s not surprising that Singer would dishonestly twist the words of his political opponent, as it’s a tactic commonly used by both parties. But the framing of legacy media stories on the speech would leave similar impressions on a reader.
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The New York Times headline said, “Trump … Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses,” with no mention of the automotive industry until the third paragraph. Headlines from CBS, NBC, Politico, and the Hill all included the “bloodbath” quote in the headline without referring to the auto industry.
The media and the Biden campaign are so eager to claim that Trump wants to foment violence in the case that he loses the general election that they will resort to cherry-picked quotes to craft their dishonest narrative. And they do this all while ignoring the nearly indisputable fact that widespread violence will break out from the left if Trump is elected in November.