Biden campaign slams Trump over ‘political violence’ for warning of ‘bloodbath’ when discussing auto industry

The Biden-Harris campaign accused former President Trump of threatening "political violence" after Trump, while speaking about the auto industry at a rally in Ohio, suggested there will be a "bloodbath" if he doesn’t win the upcoming election in November. 

Trump made the remark during a campaign event near Dayton on Saturday as he was talking about China and how "they think that they are going to sell" cars manufactured in Mexico to the U.S. "with no tax at the border." 

"Let me tell you something. To China, if you are 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, and you think you're going to get that, you're going to not hire Americans and you're going to sell the cars to us. Now, we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line," Trump said. 

"And you're not going to be able to sell those cars, if I get elected," Trump continued. "Now, if I don't get elected, 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. But they're not going to sell those cars." 

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The Biden-Harris campaign later released a statement slamming Trump for his words, accusing him of speaking about actual violence, rather than economic consequences.

"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," it 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." 

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Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller, addressing Trump's "bloodbath" statement on X, clarified that it was "[f]or the auto industry[.]"

"Crooked Joe Biden’s Insane EV Mandate will slaughter the American auto industry," Miller added. "So many jobs killed! That’s why we have to elect President Trump."

Trump on Saturday urged voters to support Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, an Ohio businessman who is running to help Republicans win a crucial seat and potentially flip the majority in the chamber. 

In his remarks, Trump also railed against Biden and his border policies, calling him "a great threat to our democracy" and the "worst president in U.S. history." 

Fox News Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.