ABC co-hosts George Stephanopoulos and Martha Raddatz said Sunday that Donald Trump and his supporters helped spread “violent rhetoric” before the assassination attempt on the former president.
Raddatz warned about the many conspiracy theories spreading regarding Saturday’s shooting — while suggesting Trump is to blame for the harsh current political climate and also bringing up a debunked report that the former president warned of a looming “bloodbath.”
“As you point out … President Trump and his supporters have contributed to this violent rhetoric as well,” Stephanopoulos said Sunday, teeing up his “This Week” co-host.
Raddatz responded, “We were just looking back at some of the things that former President Trump has said.
“He warned last March of potential death and destruction if he were charged by the Manhattan district attorney: ‘Our country is being destroyed as they tell us to be peaceful,’ ” she said, quoting the former president.
“Trump in January warned of bedlam in the country if the criminal charges against him succeeded. And of course, in March he said, ‘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’ ” Raddatz said.
Trump uttered the last quote about the “bloodbath” during a rally where the Republican frontrunner was discussing the potential loss of jobs in the auto industry if he isn’t elected.
While President Biden’s campaign quickly accused Trump of inciting “political violence” at the time — with the story garnering headlines across the nation — Trump’s team slammed its opponents for taking the quote out of context.
“If you actually watch and listen to the section, he was talking about the auto industry and tariffs,” Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, told the Washington Post, adding that “Biden’s policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and autoworkers.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday placed the blame for the country’s political turmoil on Democrats’ shoulders.
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“When the message goes out constantly that the threat to Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy and the Republic would end, it heats up the environment,” Johnson told the “TODAY” show.
“We cannot do that, it’s simply not true,” Johnson said.
After Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump, a YouGov poll of more than 4,000 US adults found that 67% believe the current political climate makes “politically motivated violence” more likely to occur.
