MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough called the defense of former President Donald Trump’s “bloodbath” remark “bullshit” one day after he deleted his own misleading tweet after being called out by Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
Scarborough claimed in a now-deleted Sunday tweet that Trump promised “another bloodbath” if he loses the 2024 election during an Ohio rally Sunday. Musk then replied, saying the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was not by any definition a “bloodbath” and pointed out that Trump referred to job losses when using the word.
Morning Joe deleted his post after being humiliated by Elon 🤣 pic.twitter.com/O1t5xP5wnv
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 17, 2024
Scarborough and the “Morning Joe” panel repeated the claim Monday morning, despite showing a statement by the Trump campaign confirming the former president was speaking about the auto industry.
“You know, it was a distinction without a difference,” Scarborough said. “He was talking about the auto industry, then he pivots, he goes, ‘it’s gonna be a bloodbath. It’s okay, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath.’ Okay, connect that to the auto industry. Maybe you can, but again, I’ve never really heard people discuss macroeconomics in terms of bloodbaths, but maybe so. But let’s just say for arguments sake. And then he says that’s going to be the least of it. That’s gonna be the least of it. If you think there’s gonna be a bloodbath in the auto industry, if you take that argument at face value, which again, given the tone of the rest of the speech, bloodbath, I don’t know that he’s taking about the niceties of international trade … then he goes that’s going to be the least of it and repeats it, it’s gonna be the least of it.”
“Obviously, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for America, it’s laid out in the terms of it,” Scarborough continued. “And these idiots on Twitter, these idiots on cable news, these idiots on Sunday shows saying, ‘oh, the president, you know, he’s only talking about the auto industry and this is one more,’ it’s just bullshit. Let me say that at 6:15 a.m., it’s just bullshit. He knew what he was doing, we’re not stupid, Americans aren’t stupid. He was talking about a bloodbath.”
MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire agreed, arguing Trump speaks vaguely enough for his comment to be left up to interpretation. He added that the Trump campaign immediately put out a statement because they knew the former president “screwed up.”
Trump warned that the U.S. auto industry will become a “bloodbath” as manufacturing plants are currently being built outside of the U.S. He vowed to place a tariff on “every single car” entering the U.S. internationally.
“If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal,” Trump said. “Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now … 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’’ gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to NBC News that President Joe Biden’s policies “will create an economic bloodbath” for the U.S. auto industry.