Welcome to another episode of “What Did Trump Mean by That?” Hosted by a former Miss Universe and Rudy Giuliani, the game show asks contestants whether an utterance from Donald Trump was either a “call for political violence” or “peak comedy.” Winners can receive up to $5,000, 90 percent of which will go to Trump’s campaign and legal obligations.
From Politico:
Donald Trump on Saturday said it will be a “bloodbath” for the United States if he doesn’t win in November.
“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it,” Trump said during a rally near Dayton, Ohio. “It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
While it was unclear what the former president meant exactly, the remarks came as Trump was complaining about the automobile industry.
He then returned to telling the crowd that China would not be able to sell any vehicles imported into the U.S. if he wins reelection.
Trump frequently paints a dark picture of the country as he lays out his case against President Joe Biden ahead of November’s presidential rematch. And he often employs increasingly heightened rhetoric when addressing the felony charges he is facing in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Our Jeff Blehar wrote a fantastic piece giving the episode a complete physical (with two coughs included).
I’ll add this: The bloodbath comments are but the first taste of what will be thousands more instances just like it. In his carnival-barker style, Trump will wind up some doozies from the stump that can be interpreted however one wishes. His words will delight, disdain, damage, and dangle — all within five minutes. What won’t change is what we’ve observed of the man when the voters handed him power in 2016 and then instructed him to relinquish it in 2020. The man with three-dimensional phrases is one of three options: The other two are Biden and abstention. Nothing either of the two candidates can say would abrogate his demonstrated leadership failures.
If there is to be a bloodbath, it will be the national self-harm of electing either man for another four years.