Ex-Trump Spox Rejects ‘Bloodbath’ Defense: Trump ‘Incited Deadly Insurrection’ — Deserves No Benefit of The Doubt
Former Trump White House spox Sarah Matthews told MSNBC host and ex-Biden press secretary Jen Psaki that former President Donald Trump doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt that his “bloodbath” comment was innocuous, citing his history of violent rhetoric.
Trump gave a speech in Dayton, Ohio last week during which he made the remark that “if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath” — after discussing trade policy.
Trump’s campaign objected to criticism by claiming his remarks about tariffs are the only context in which the remark should be interpreted, while some journalists and Trump critics have placed the remark in context with Trump’s history of encouraging and inciting violence.
On Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, Psaki asked Matthews for her assessment of the remark, and the former deputy press secretary placed herself in the camp that is not buying the Trump defense:
JEN PSAKI: Let me start with the comments from this weekend. What did you hear? I mean, you worked for Trump for some time.
You obviously resigned, as I noted, on — after January 6th, but he said it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it.
What did you hear when you heard that?
SARAH MATTHEWS: Trump oftentimes speaks in these kinds of incoherent, vague sentences, and so that allows people to draw to the conclusion that they want to, to fit their own narrative. But I think when you look at this sentence, obviously, the Trump campaign is out there saying, of course, he’s talking about the auto industry. But then why would he use a phrase like that’s going to be the least of it, immediately afterward? That alludes to something more.
And in my eyes — yeah, sure, he could have been talking about the economy but I think when you’re looking at who the messenger was of this message, this is a man who helped incite a deadly insurrection on our nation’s Capitol. So when he’s using terms like bloodbath, it’s really hard for me to give him the benefit of the doubt.
PSAKI: And he also had a number of phrases I just outlined in that same speech that would be concerning to anyone listening, including applauding insurrectionists, and having the national anthem sung — sung by many of the January 6 rioters. I would also note that he was not — he was for the auto industry going bankrupt. So, that’s important — important for you to remember.
You know, I wanted to ask you, one of the things that struck me is that many of the people — the same people who have been working overtime to kind of explain and put into context his comments, have not really seemed to take an issue with the fact that he called insurrectionists, has been calling insurrectionists hostages, saying immigrants are not people, he saluted people which is normally reserved for people in the military as you know, convicted for their role in the insurrection.
What do you make of that context here, the kind of overspinning an explanation of one comment when everything else seems okay?
MATTHEWS: Yeah, exactly. That — this one comment they are saying is overblown but it does follow a proven track record of these kinds of unhinged comments from him, in an increasingly violent rhetoric and apocalyptic rhetoric almost, when he says things like there’s going to be death and destruction if he’s charged in these criminal cases, that is I think a warning call to his supporters, he is telling them kind of, marching orders almost.
And we saw this happen in the lead up from the election in 2020 to January 6th, where he told them to come to the Capitol, he said he was going to be a wild day that we needed to save our country, so he’s putting these kinds of messages out there hoping that they’ll act on them.
Watch above via MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki.
