Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) predicted Sunday that the media industry will make a “massive push” to take former President Donald Trump‘s words out of context as the 2024 presidential election draws nearer.
Trump, the Republican nominee, delivered a speech at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, during which he warned that the auto industry in the United States would face “a bloodbath” if he were not elected president again. Trump had been referring to the impact electric vehicles would have on the United States’s auto industry, though many outlets appeared to take his bloodbath comments literally rather than symbolically.
“The fact is, is that, again, we are going to see a massive push from now until Election Day using social media, using the media to try to take everything that President Trump is doing and saying out of context,” Luna predicted on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
Trump’s “bloodbath” comment has sparked controversy online, with Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) taking to X to warn that “this guy is promising a bloodbath,” adding that the comment was “disqualifying.”
Promising a bloodbath is disqualifying. I don’t care what you think about other issues. This guy is promising a bloodbath. He needs to lose. Stand up for America. Please.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) March 17, 2024
Similarly, MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough wrote in a since-deleted X post that Trump had “promised another ‘bloodbath’ if he loses again,” posting footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol protest.
In the wake of Trump’s comments, many Republican lawmakers have come to the defense of the former president, with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) writing on X that Trump was warning that “outsourcing the US auto industry would create an economic bloodbath.” He also criticized the media for “deliberately twisting his words in an attempt to dupe the American people.”
🚨FAKE NEWS ALERT🚨
Yesterday, President Trump held a rally in OH. He spoke about how outsourcing the US auto industry would create an economic bloodbath.
Now media is deliberately twisting his words in an attempt to dupe the American people.
This “bloodbath” hoax is SHAMEFUL. pic.twitter.com/gqAJH3SOLD
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) March 17, 2024
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Earlier this week, Trump unveiled his “Plan to Save America’s Auto Industry,” as he aims to appeal to auto industry workers for their vote this November.
Last month, a report stated that the Biden administration was planning to relax its limits on tailpipe emissions, giving manufacturers until after 2030 to boost their electric vehicle sales significantly. The report comes as Biden is also seeking reelection this November, and is seeking to retain the vote he gained from auto industry voters in 2020.