Former President Donald Trump responded to the torrent of establishment media reporting that he was predicting a “bloodbath” if he was not elected in November by labeling it “Fake news.”

At a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, the Republican presidential candidate spoke about the auto industry, saying, “Mexico has taken, over a period of 30 years, 34 percent of the Automobile manufacturing business in our country.”

He then pointed out that China is building massive car manufacturing facilities in Mexico.

“They think that they’re going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border,” Trump said.

In 2020, the U.S. and Mexico entered into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which allows qualifying goods to enter the U.S. free of tariffs.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Chinese-owned factories in Mexico could enjoy a zero or low 2.5 percent tariff for cars manufactured there, depending on the sources of the parts in the car.

“We’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line , and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars — if I get elected,” Trump said.

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“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” the former president said. “That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”

Several establishment media outlets seized on Trump’s comments in their headlines to suggest he meant an actual “bloodbath.”

For example, CBS News declared, “In Ohio campaign rally, Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses November election.”

Similarly, NBC News wrote, “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election.”

Meanwhile, CNN said, “Trump warns of ‘bloodbath’ for auto industry and country if he loses the election.”

Trump responded on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

“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,” the former president said.

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“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,” he added.

@realDonaldTrumpView this post on Truth Social ↗

Many jumped to Trump’s defense on Social media, including Elon Musk with multiple posts on X.

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In one, Musk fact-checked MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who had posted on X that the former president “promised another ‘bloodbath’ if he loses again.” Included in the post was a photo of the Jan. 6, 2021, incursion of the U.S. Capitol.

“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,” the billionaire said. “Your post is extremely misleading.”

Scarborough later deleted the post.

Grabien founder Tom Elliott put together clips of media outlets referring to “bloodbaths” multiple times, including most recently when new leadership took over the Republican National Committee and slashed more than 60 people from the staff.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who said last week that he would not be endorsing Trump in this year’s presidential race, nonetheless defended his former boss Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” regarding the “bloodbath” comment.

“The president was clearly talking about the impact of imports devastating the American automotive industry,” Pence said.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.