Fact Check
Did Trump Say It Will Be a 'Bloodbath for the Country' If He Doesn't Get Elected?
Trump spoke about trade tariffs with China at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, 2024.
Claim:
At a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, 2024, former U.S. President Donald Trump said: "Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country."
Rating:
Correct Attribution
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Context
The context of the remark suggests Trump was predicting an "economic bloodbath" for the country, not a literal one, if he loses the 2024 presidential election.
On March 16, 2024, the hashtag "#bloodbath" trended sharply on social media in the wake of a Dayton, Ohio, campaign speech earlier that day by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump
stirred up controversy by claiming that if he didn't get elected for another presidential term, "It's going to be a bloodbath for the country."
A
video recording of the speech from C-SPAN provides proof that he said exactly those words, which many partisan observers, such as the author of the X (formerly Twitter)
post below, interpreted as a threat of post-election violence:
Trump spoke about trade tariffs with China at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, 2024.
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