Opinion: Trump Used the Terms Election and Bloodbath In The Same Sentence. Are We Listening?

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"Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.” Trump, March 16, 2024

On March 16 Trump said those words, outside the Dayton International Airport in Ohio. He said a great deal more as his speech was almost 90 minutes long.

After the speech, many supporters of Trump rallied around to make the point that when the former president used the term bloodbath, he was referring to the auto industry.

And that it was the media’s fault for jumping on the words as if he actually meant what he said. They should know better by now.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) offered this regarding the term bloodbath, “With regard to the autoworkers that he was talking to, he is showing them or he’s telling them what has been an economic downturn for them.”

Ah huh.

However, one wonders at what point in a speech or conversation or a bit of gossip over the backyard fence does the term bloodbath not mean something disconcerting?

Say, for example:

If that bakery runs out of crullers again, there’s going to be a bloodbath, Or

One more time, that’s all it's gonna take if that dry cleaner messes with my trousers then there’s going to be a bloodbath.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” also said he was dubious about the uproar over Trump’s language Saturday. “You could also look at the definition of bloodbath and it could be an economic disaster,” he said Sunday morning. “And so, if he’s speaking about the auto industry, in particular in Ohio, then you can take it a little bit more context.”

According to the dictionary, Bloodbath means an event or situation in which many people are killed in a violent manner. Or a major economic disaster. So, maybe that's what he meant.

It’s an awkward phrase. It’s a phrase that has context. Say a prior engagement where blood was spilled being referenced rather obliquely. (January 6)

The whole act of following up on what others say has become a cottage industry. Someone blunders and says the wrong thing, uses a wrong word and a cadre of followers come out to explain what she meant or what he was thinking.

This is a marked change from years ago. If someone stumbled while speaking, they owned it, corrected it, and moved on. That is if they thought they made a mistake. If not, they never looked back.

People around Trump look back a lot. They issue corrections or clarifications. Note extenuating circumstances so no one gets the wrong impression. But perhaps that point about wrong impressions is long past.

Maybe we need to stop looking beyond the words because sometimes what is being said, is what is being said.

And coupling the words election, country and bloodbath together should be listened to.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~Maya Angelou