MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has retracted his social media post that criticized former President Donald Trump’s “bloodbath” comment following a correction from X founder Elon Musk.
The incident began after Trump’s remarks during a speech in Ohio, where he suggested that the reelection of President Joe Biden in November could lead to a “bloodbath,” a term that quickly became a flashpoint for Democrats.
Critics, including Scarborough, misused Trump’s use of “bloodbath” as a veiled threat of violence, reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach, should he lose a potential electoral rematch against Biden.
Morning Joe deleted his post after being humiliated by Elon 🤣 pic.twitter.com/O1t5xP5wnv
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 17, 2024
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“These people may be stupid, we’re not,” Scarborough added in a dig at Trump supporters.
Scarborough’s critique on X was met with a swift rebuke from Musk. “Jan 6 was not a ‘bloodbath’ by any definition and Trump was referring to job losses in the auto industry when he used that word. Your post is extremely misleading,” Musk wrote in a reply to Scarborough.
Over recent days, left-wing politicians and media outlets have fixated on the selectively edited clip of Trump’s Dayton, Ohio rally. While Trump spoke for over a minute, bad faith actors have zeroed in on a 17-second snippet of the former president’s quote to claim that he was endorsing violence.
With Trump leading Biden in most polls, Democrats have kicked into high gear, especially in states like Ohio and Michigan where blue-collar union auto workers have gone on strike.
The lie has also been repeated by a number of mainstream media outlets such as Politico, the New York Times, the Washington Post and others, while a number of elected Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have said the same.
While chatting with former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki, Biden Campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler managed to reference two debunked media hoaxes — the “very fine people” lie that emerged after the Charlottesville protests and the more recent “bloodbath” hoax — in one sentence.
Not satisfied with mentioning one hoax, Tyler managed to cram the “very fine people” hoax within the same sentence. “It goes even farther back, right? This is the same guy who, after Nazis marched on Charlottesville and killed a woman, said there were very fine people on both sides,” he said.
The quote was in reference to the lie that Trump called Nazis and other extremists “very fine people” in the wake of the Charlottesville riot, a lie referenced by Joe Biden when he announced his candidacy. During his remarks in the wake of the rally and subsequent violence, then-President Trump repeatedly condemned extremists, stating that they need to be “condemned totally.”
Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith continues to prosecute the former president over statements and actions surrounding J6 though has seen a number of delays that may push the trial well past Election Day on November 5th. Were he to win a second term, it’s widely expected that a President-elect Trump would seek to dismiss the charges against him.
