Former President Donald Trump said Monday that the “Fake News Media” and Democrats feigned outrage over his “bloodbath” comment on Saturday while “fully” understanding he was referring to the auto industry.

Trump took to Truth Social to slam media outlets and “their Democrat partners in the destruction of our Nation” who took his “bloodbath” comment out of context:

The Fake News Media, and their Democrat Partners in the destruction of our Nation, pretended to be shocked at my use of the word BLOODBATH, even though they fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry. The United Auto Workers, but not their leadership, fully understand what I mean. With the Electric Car Mandate being pushed by Biden, there soon won’t be any cars made in the USA – UNLESS I’M ELECTED PRESIDENT, IN WHICH CASE AUTO MANUFACTURING WILL THRIVE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!! MAGA2024

While speaking at an Ohio Buckeye Values rally for GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno on Saturday, Trump forecasted a “bloodbath” awaited the auto industry should China be allowed to flood the United States with imports:

If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. 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’s 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.

Media outlets and prominent Democrats were quick to twist Trump’s words over the weekend and into Monday, as Breitbart News noted.

The Biden campaign falsely claimed Trump was threatening “political violence.”

“This is who Donald Trump is: a loser who gets beat by over 7 million votes and then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience doubles down on his threats of political violence,” James Singer, a Biden campaign spokesman, said in a statement.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, “Crooked Joe Biden and his campaign are engaging in deceptively, out-of-context editing.”

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was peddling the hoax into Monday morning.

“These idiots on Twitter, these idiots on, on, on, on cable news, these idiots on Sunday shows going ‘He was just talking only about the auto industry, and this is one more –’ it’s just bullshit,” he said.

“He knew what he was doing; we’re not stupid; Americans aren’t stupid,” Scarborough added. “He was talking about a bloodbath. Sometimes a bloodbath means a bloodbath.”