Bloodbath Comment Not a Gaffe

The conventions to formally nominate the presumed nominees for the 2024 presidential election have not been held, but try telling that to Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Both men have been trading election rhetoric since clinching the required delegates on Super Tuesday, as it is only a formality to drop the balloons on Trump and Biden because the campaigning is in full swing. Since both parties have paid for their hotel rooms and convention space, they might as well let the delegates go and do what is legally required to officially get both men on the ballot for voters to put an end to what has been a bitter display of politics at its ugliest. Or at least, that's the case for one of the candidates, judging by the words that come out of his mouth, which seem to have more to do with violence than with unity. The latest example of this candidate stirring up violent rhetoric came up recently when Donald Trump is alleged to have said that a "bloodbath" will occur if he is not elected to return to the White House. Now, just on the surface, when one speaks of a bloodbath, there has to be something of a violent nature to have occurred for that to happen, usually resulting in a loss of life. We are not talking about professional wrestling in the old days when magazines would have pictures of wrestlers covered in blood, and writers or commentators would say that the matches "were a bloodbath," but somehow, the wrestlers survived. The one thing that writers would say was that those matches were violent.

When Trump spoke at his rally in Ohio supposedly about the auto industry, he said that there "would be a bloodbath if he isn't elected." Trump said, "It's going to be a bloodbath for the whole...that's going to be the least of it...it's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That'll be the least of it." When his words hit the media, his campaign, not the candidate, began to backtrack or "clarify" what Trump supposedly meant. Before the bloodbath comment, Trump was talking about stopping China from selling autos in the U.S. while manufacturing them in Mexico. He said that as president, he would impose a 100% tariff on each auto that "comes across the line" and that the cars would not be sold if he became elected. A spokesman posted that the media wants to talk about a 'bloodbath.' Fine, let's talk about it, but when one reads the post, the word 'bloodbath' or why it was said, in context or out, was never mentioned. Instead, the post read about Biden's performance in office, stuff that the public has been hearing from Trump since 2021.

The problem that the Trump campaign has and that of right-wing media is that Trump has a propensity to include violent rhetoric in many of his speeches and also his apparent appeal to authoritarian leaders like Putin. Trump had the opportunity to tell his supporters when he mentioned the word bloodbath that he is NOT promoting violence if he loses. He didn't because he does not have a vision for the nation where it can be united, knowing that divisive rhetoric is the only way for him to return to the White House through violent means. He tried that once and knowing that he has nothing to lose, why not try it again? So far, it's working in his favor as long as he has a judge who will listen to his cause with a Supreme Court to back him up. That was no gaffe. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.