Former President Donald Trump on Saturday night forecast a financial “bloodbath” awaits the U.S. motor industry if he is not elected and China is enabled to swamp the country with their products.
The comments came at an Ohio rally hosted by the Buckeye Values PAC where he discussed the possibility of an increasing trade war with China over auto manufacturing in general and electric vehicle types in particular. Trump said:
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 percent 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.
Critics in the political arena and the general media were quick to wilfully manipulate Trump’s words and infer intentions on his behalf even after Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung made clear Trump had clearly been talking about the impact of offshoring on the country’s auto industry and his own plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars.
“Crooked Joe Biden and his campaign are engaging in deceptively, out-of-context editing,” he said.
James Singer, a spokesman for President Joe Biden’s campaign, issued a statement following Trump’s remarks, noting that former Vice President Mike Pence announced he will not endorse Trump’s re-election bid.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives for a rally at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024 in Vandalia, Ohio. The rally was hosted by the Buckeye Values PAC. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Excited guests take pictures as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s plane lands for a rally at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024 in Vandalia, Ohio. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“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,” Singer said.
“He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”
Singer had other Democrats baying the same message, as Breitbart News reported.
Even some Republicans felt they should join in too.
Trump did have his supporters who were quick to pinpoint the errors of his detractors and their rush to judgement.
“Joe Biden’s Insane EV Mandate will slaughter the American auto industry,” senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller posted on X. “So many jobs killed! That’s why we have to elect President Trump.”