Trump mocks the media for 'pretending to be shocked' about his 'bloodbath' comment and insists he was referring to Biden's imports 'killing the automobile industry'

Former President Donald Trump on Monday mocked the breathless media coverage of his weekend rally in Ohio, accusing news organizations of fake outrage over his warning of a 'bloodbath' in the auto industry if he did not win a second term.

Headline writers, political pundits and the Biden campaign lined up to accuse Trump of threatening political violence if November's election did not go his way.

But he defended his comments in a post on Truth Social, pointing out that he was talking about the impact on U.S. car manufacturers if they were were not protected from foreign imports.

And he quickly used the attacks to his advantage, sending out a fundraising email accusing his detractors of deliberately misquoting him.

'The Fake News Media, and their Democrat partners in the destruction of our nation, pretended to be shocked at my use of the word bloodbath, even though they fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry,' he said, deploying capital letters with his characteristic abandon.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday morning hit back at coverage of his rally speech

'The United Auto Workers, but not their leadership, fully understand what I mean. 

'With the electric car mandate being pushed by Biden, there soon won’t be any cars made in the USA - unless I'm elected president, in which case auto manufacturing will thrive like never before!!! MAGA2024.'

The controversy erupted after Trump delivered a typically fiery speech in Dayton, Ohio, where we warned that defeat for his campaign would spell the end of American democracy.

'If we don't win this election, I don't think you're going to have another election in this country,' he said. 

He also referred to migrants as 'animals' and people convicted for their part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as 'hostages.'

Yet it was another portion of the speech that attracted the most reaction.

He promised to impose a 100 percent tariff on imported cars to protect the U.S. industry against cheap Chinese imports if he were elected.

'Now if I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole ... that's gonna be the least of it, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it,' he said.

In response, the Biden campaign said Trump was 'a loser who gets beat by over seven million votes and then, instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience, doubles down on his threats of political violence.' 

'Now if I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole ... that's gonna be the least of it, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it,' Trump said

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally  in Vandalia, Ohio

And former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dismissed the Trump campaign's defense that he was talking about the auto industry.

'The full context is that this is much bigger than one single speech,' she told the audience of her MSNBC show. 'This embrace of political violence, this dehumanising language, this is what Donald Trump has been preaching for years.'

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN: 'We just have to win this election because he's even predicting a bloodbath. What does that mean? 

'He's going to exact a bloodbath? There's something wrong here.'

But some Never Trump Republicans said parts of the media had been too quick to judge, warning that it played into the hands of the former president's persecution complex.

Critics including Nancy Pelosi (pictured) and a retired FBI boss blasted the incendiary 'bloodbath' comment as a 'threat' - while MAGA supporters said it had been taken out of context because it came in reference to a clampdown on foreign car imports

His campaign sent out fundraising emails on Monday morning. 

'They used edited clips to viciously misquote me. They said that you were a dangerous threat to our country,' they said.

'They even had Nancy Pelosi push this hoax live on CNN! She lied directly to the American people!

'The fake news and their allies in the Democrat [sic] Party truly hate our country.'

Trump last week won enough delegates in the Republican primary to ensure that he will clinch his party's nomination.

Polls suggest he has a narrow lead over President Joe Biden, even as he faces four criminal cases, including two related to his efforts to overturn the results on the 2020 election.