At an Ohio rally this weekend, former Republican President Donald Trump raised the spectre of mass violence in the event that he should lose in November, which many read as a message to his MAGA supporters.
On Saturday, Trump attended a rally in support of Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is facing a tight primary contest against state Senator Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose for the Republican nomination in the race.
“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line," Trump told local supporters in Dayton, Ohio, adding:
"And you’re not going to be able to sell those cars, if I get elected."
But, he warned:
“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath."
"That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
Critics cited Trump's hyperbolic "bloodbath" comment as another example of his violent rhetoric, but the GOP presumptive nominee's campaign defended him by arguing his speech was "taken out of context" and that he was specifically talking about the automotive industry.
However, the host of MSNBC's Inside with Jen Psaki shut down this MAGA reasoning.
Psaki, who served as Democratic President Joe Biden's first White House Press Secretary, set the record straight about the actual "full context" for viewers of her show.
"If they want us to consider the full context, let's do just that," she said before breaking down just what Trump meant by "bloodbath for the country."
Here's the full segment.
Psaki explained:
"Because the full context is that Trump kicked off the same exact rally by saluting the people who were convicted for the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, all to the tune of the National Anthem sung by a choir of imprisoned insurrectionists."
She continued:
"The full context is that some of the first words out of Trump's mouth last night, same rally, were thanking those rioters and calling them 'patriots.'"
"The full context is that he also in the same rally, 'If this election isn't won, I'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country.'"
Psaki added:
“‘The full context’ is that he went on to say some undocumented immigrants are, ‘not people.’"
"And, of course, ‘the full context’ is that this is much bigger than one single speech.”
The MSNBC host described Trump's rant as an “embrace of political violence” and use of “dehumanizing language.”
"This is what Donald Trump has been preaching for years," she said.
Psaki mentioned how in January, Trump warned of "Bedlam" in the country if the prosecution prevented him from running for President again for refusing to condemn the political violence that unfolded at the White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
She also noted how last year, Trump echoed Adolph Hitler's dehumanizing language by comparing his political enemies to "vermin," and claiming that immigrants were "Poisoning the blood of our country."
“I could go on and on and on,” Psaki said. “So, no. We did not miss the full context."
In conclusion, Psaki asserted:
"This was not some meandering off-message comment. This is his message.”
Social media users agreed about Trump's deliberate word choice.
Psaki added:
“We all know by now that Trump’s allusions to political violence are not merely rhetorical."
"His supporters take them literally, and that’s part of the big problem here. And he knows that too. So no, we did not miss the full context.”
Trump made his dramatic "bloodbath" threat ahead of Tuesday's primaries while endorsing Moreno, whom Trump praised as an “America first champion” and “political outsider who has spent his entire life building up Ohio communities.”
Moreno, a wealthy Cleveland businessman, was a former Trump critic who supported Marco Rubio in the 2016 Presidential primaries.
On Saturday, Moreno came to defend Trump and called out those in the party who've begun to turn their backs on the GOP presumptive nominee.
After joining him on stage, Moreno, who once described Trump as a “lunatic” and a “maniac," stated:
“I am so sick and tired of Republicans that say, ‘I support President Trump’s policies but I don’t like the man."
Trump in turn expressed support for Moreno, claiming:
“He’s getting some very tough Democrat fake treatment right now. And we’re not going to stand for it because I know this man."
"We all know this man. He’s a hero, he’s a winner. And we’re not going to let these people — these people are sick.”
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