Donald Trump has embraced the term “bloodbath” after disputing media reports that misrepresented his use of the word during a rally speech in Ohio last month. Trump asserted that the media took his statement out of context, contending that he was referring to the economic consequences of U.S. trade policies with China rather than advocating violence. His campaign even leveraged this controversy in a fundraising email.
Now, Trump has chosen to embrace the term by incorporating it into a new slogan targeting the migrant situation at the southern border: “Stop Biden’s Border Bloodbath.”
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi highlighted Trump’s pivot, noting that instead of moving past the controversy, Trump’s campaign has adopted the term for a new anti-Biden slogan. At a recent event in Michigan, Trump spoke behind a podium bearing the slogan “Stop Biden’s Border Bloodbath.”
The Republican National Committee has launched a website using the slogan to criticize President Biden’s immigration policies. Despite Trump’s characterization, there is no “bloodbath” at the border, nor is there an invasion. These assertions are deemed as false and fear-mongering tactics.
This strategy of fear and fear-mongering has been utilized by autocrats in the past, including Trump himself, who has consistently fear-mongered about immigrants since the inception of his presidential bid in 2015.
At an event in Michigan on Tuesday, the former president spoke from behind a podium that had a placard on it that read, quote, “Stop Biden’s Border Bloodbath.” Not about Chinese cars.
The Republican National Committee has even paid for a new website using that slogan to criticize Biden’s immigration policies. It’s no secret that the American immigration system is deeply broken. But there’s no bloodbath at the border. There’s no invasion.
These are outrageous lies, just like the false claim that crime is on the rise around the country. But, we know what this is about. It’s about fear and fear mongering. The real strategy at play here. It’s worked for other autocrats in the past unfailingly, including for Trump, who began fear mongering about immigrants from the moment he launched his first presidential bid in 2015.
