Trump said at a "messaging event" in #GrandRapids, #Michigan, "It's a very bad thing happening. It's going to end on the day that I take office, which will be Jan 20."
Dan Pfeiffer says Trump is as unhinged as ever and more are paying attention:
"He can’t seem to stop saying insane, deeply politically damaging stuff. In the last two weeks, Trump has said:
He was open to cutting Social Security if elected;
There would be a 'bloodbath' if he lost the election;
He would pardon the January 6th rioters on his first day in office;
He doesn’t think immigrants are 'people;' and"
“'Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.' …
Trump is cracking under the intense scrutiny of the General Election."
The meaningful contexts make Trump's summons to #violence clearer & worse. That said, even if we knew nothing about the history of #PoliticalViolence, or about #Trump, or about the rest of his appearance in Vandalia, the meaning of "bloodbath for the country" would still be absolutely clear to anyone who listened to him. Even if we play the bad-faith syntactical game that his defenders want us to play, there is really no doubt that he was talking about a #bloodbath when he spoke of a bloodbath.
If he is not elected, "it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole" & "it's going to be a bloodbath for the country." He REPEATS that the auto industry is "the least of it." So, yes, the words about cars are part of the context, in the sense that if you pay attention to them you know that he does NOT mean an automotive #bloodbath.
The auto industry is "the least of it." #Trump is promising, as he says, a "bloodbath for the country."
@Nonilex Did anybody notice in that speech that the blond behind Trump with the Go Brandon shirt appears to be snorting coke? It’s right after his #bloodbath comment
"Right at the beginning, Americans at the rally are told to identify themselves with people who tried to overthrow an election by force, who are celebrated as 'unbelievable patriots.' That is perhaps the most essential element of context to Trump's later reference to a bloodbath. He has already made clear, in a the collective performance, that violent insurrection is the best form of politics."
"Trump is calling for a bloodbath in front of people who stood to honor bloodshed. People who have just sung with coup criminals. People whom he implicitly promises he will pardon if they carry out another insurrection. And he is doing this in the fascist style of telling a big lie that confers martyrdom upon criminals who try to overthrow a democracy they associated with subhumans."
“Donald Trump enjoys violence. He gets off on it: rape is a violent crime, and as the civil court has made clear, he is an adjudicated rapist. Not only that, but there are dozens of sexual assault accusations against him besides E. Jean Carroll’s. …
Threats of political violence should be unacceptable, always. And yet a third of the country has not only accepted Trump’s abusive behavior, but fervently endorses it."
"The legitimate media needs to figure out how to get across clearly to the voting public — the ones that matter in the handful of swing states that will decide the election — the consequences of electing Trump again.
"Trump is a far more dangerous threat than he was in 2016. He and his allies have figured out how to kick down the guardrails that kept democracy more or less functioning during his four-year term and in its aftermath."
"Over the past nine years, Trump has used the language of political violence in his speeches and social media posts. This is known as 'psychological priming.'
Author and activist Grant Stern correctly placed Trump’s 'bloodbath' statement within this bucket. … Such priming is the tool of authoritarians and fascists, and Trump wields it masterfully."
"Trump is a mob boss, and his speech should be viewed in that context. …
Trump is adept at skirting up to the line and allowing others to cross it for him. That is what a mob boss does, and why they had to come up with laws like RICO to sweep in the heads of criminal enterprises and hold them responsible for the actions of others within the organization."
Trump is promising a 'get out of jail free' card to people who act violently on his behalf. Imagine how someone hopped up on Right Wing propaganda and conspiracy theories might act if they have no fear of legal accountability and the hope of being hailed a hero by Trump."
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
Good piece this morning on the recent #bloodbath#Trump rally. Much has been made of the use of that word which was used in reference to the auto industry. A case could be made that many #NewsMedia orgs ran with stories without context
Far more important was the bizarre lionization of #Jan6 insurrectionists. Give this story a listen