[This is a shortened repost from MySubstack. You may Subscribe now to read the full original version of this article. There is a free tier.]
From Washington Examiner.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) predicted Sunday that the media industry will make a "massive push" to take former President Donald Trump 's words out of context as the 2024 presidential election draws nearer.
Trump, the Republican nominee, delivered a speech at a rally in Dayton, Ohio , on Saturday, during which he warned that the auto industry in the United States would face "a bloodbath" if he were not elected president again. Trump had been referring to the impact electric vehicles would have on the United States's auto industry , though many outlets appeared to take his bloodbath comments literally rather than symbolically."The fact is, is that, again, we are going to see a massive push from now until Election Day using social media, using the media to try to take everything that President Trump is doing and saying out of context," Luna predicted on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.Trump's "bloodbath" comment has sparked controversy online, with Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) taking to X to warn that “this guy is promising a bloodbath," adding that the comment was "disqualifying."
Similarly, MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough wrote in a since-deleted X post that Trump had "promised another ‘bloodbath’ if he loses again," posting footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol protest.In the wake of Trump's comments, many Republican lawmakers have come to the defense of the former president, with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) writing on X that Trump was warning that "outsourcing the US auto industry would create an economic bloodbath." He also criticized the media for "deliberately twisting his words in an attempt to dupe the American people."
Yeah, but.
-
The total value of the US car and automobile manufacturing market is $104.1 billion in 2023
-
9.2 million US vehicles were produced in 2021
-
The US produced 9.2 million vehicles in 2021, a 4.5% increase from 2020
-
923,000 Americans work in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing, and 1,251,600 are employed by automobile dealers
-
The revenue of United States motor vehicle and parts dealers was $1.53 trillion as of 2021
-
The auto industry accounts for 3% of America’s GDP
-
The US automobile industry sold an estimated 13.75 million cars and light truck vehicles in 2022
That’s not very “bloodbathy.” This industry is doing very well.
The problem with this rather novel interpretation of Trump’s words are that these are simply not the words he said.
Trump: Mexico has taken 34% of the Auto Industry. There gonna build the cars in Mexico and they think, they’re going to sell those cars in the United States with no tax at the border.
Nope, that didn’t happen
He says the U.S. has lost 30% of its automobile business to its southern neighbor.
He said it on CNBC. He said it on Twitter in May and again in June. And he circled back to it during his latest visit to Wisconsin.
"Mexico, they took 30% of our automobile business, I don’t know if you know that or not," Trump said during a June 12, 2019 speech at Derco Aerospace where he touted the pending United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.
"They have plants the likes of which you’ve never seen before," Trump said. "They took 30% — probably more than that — of our automobile (business). I don’t blame them. I don’t blame anyone. I blame our past leaders."
[…]
The Center for Automotive Research, an independent research group that gets some funding from automakers, says no manufacturers have left the U.S. for Mexico as Trump described to CNBC.
"There are no cases that I can name where an automaker closed a plant in the U.S., moved that work, opened a new plant in Mexico, and you can definitely call it a replacement," said Bernard Swiecki, assistant director of the center’s industry labor and economics group.
Shifts in production are "almost impossible" to track anyhow, he said, since automakers regularly move production between plants based on available capacity. Swiecki said major automakers treat their American, Mexican and Canadian operations as one unit and "move vehicles around that footprint at will."
For example, Ford announced it was moving production of the Ford Focus from Michigan to Mexico (though that was later moved to China instead), a move blasted by Trump. But the Michigan plant wasn’t closed — it instead took on production of the new Ranger and Bronco lines. The Focus is now discontinued.
"That plant actually made out big time because it went from one mediocre product to two very successful products," Swiecki said.
So when Trump says that Mexico is taking auto manufacturing away from the U.S. - he’s lying. He’s been saying this since before he was in the White House — so why exactly didn’t he do something about it, if it was true? He didn’t, because it’s not true.
What is true is that China is investing in new plants in Mexico - but those aren’t moving manufacturing of current cars out of the U.S., they supplying new parts for a big new Tesla plant that has just been built in Texas. In fact, the Mexico plant is actually replacing work currently being done in a plant in Shanghai.
China-based car component suppliers are building production sites rapidly in the suburb of Monterrey, the northeast of Mexico. They are forming a supply chain for Tesla's future Gigafactory in Nuevo Leon. The situation has concerned the US government.
[…]
Bloomberg reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had invited Chinese suppliers to expand in Mexico, aiming to replicate the company's supply chain in Shanghai.
According to preliminary data from INA, the automotive parts industry association in Mexico, the value of Mexico-made Chinese components that were exported to the US reached US$1.1 billion in 2023. The number grew by 15% from 2022. In 2023, 33 China-based automotive part companies registered in Mexico, with 18 exporting to the US.
While US government officials have expressed concerns about Chinese automotive part suppliers entering Mexico, industry sources said it makes sense that Tesla and other carmakers want to take advantage of China's highly organized and efficient supply chains.
So what’s he gonna put a tariff on? Cars or the parts for those cars - which are still being assembled in the U.S. Does he Tariff the cars rolling off the Texas Tesla plant floor?
Trump: Let me tell you something to China, if you’re listening President Xi, and you and I are friends [Fascists in Arms] but he understands the way I deal, those big monster car manufactering plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re gonna get that, you’re not going to hire Americans, and you’re going to sell the cars to us now, we’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not gonna be able to sell those if I get elected.
So for starters, he’s promising to create 100% inflation of the cost of a product in the United States. Secondly, I’m not sure this “100% Tariff” wouldn’t be a violation of Trump’s own “USA-Mexico-Canada” treaty which requires that Nations receive “no less favorable treatment.”
Article 15.3: National Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to services or service suppliers of another Party treatment no less favorable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own services and service suppliers.
2. The treatment to be accorded by a Party under paragraph 1 means, with respect to a government other than at the central level, treatment no less favorable than the most favorable treatment accorded, in like circumstances, by that government to services and service suppliers of the Party of which it forms a part.
3. For greater certainty, whether treatment referred to in paragraph 1 is accorded in “like circumstances” depends on the totality of the circumstances, including whether the relevant treatment distinguishes between services or service suppliers on the basis of legitimate public welfare objectives.
I’m not a trade expert, but I think a “100% Tariff” would be less than favorable treatment.
This report from CNBC and MotorTrends confirms that view noting that China is moving the production of some of their cars and parts to Mexico to specifically take advantage of the terms of USA-Mexico-Canada deal.
However, they don’t say that any of these plants in Mexico are being used to make any American model cars, because they aren’t. They’re providing EV parts and batteries and also making new brands of cars that were previously only available in China.
None of those brands are currently available in the U.S. They might be in the future, but they aren’t right now. This isn’t taking away from U.S. manufacturing in any way, but it might eventually provide additional cars to the market that can’t be tarrifed.
Thirdly, Trump attempted to affect US-China trade policy using tariffs and that project was an abject failure.
A sewing machine manufacturer in Ohio froze employee wages, a New York City-based wheelchair producer forced layoffs at a U.S. supplier and a drone seller in Florida struggled to offer pay increases and hire workers.
The companies were among hundreds who filed comments with the federal government over the negative consequences of tariffs put in place under then-President Donald Trump. Many of the businesses bemoaned sudden employment-related difficulties, government filings show.
Drone Nerds, the Florida-based firm, criticized the tariffs in a filing as "a dead-weight loss for the economy." […]
During his tenure, Trump placed tariffs on aluminum and steel from a host of countries, including Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
Meanwhile, he taxed hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from China, raising import costs for everything from shoes to BMX bikes to computer chips.
Trump's tariffs decreased U.S. employment by 166,000 jobs, according to a study from the nonprofit Tax Foundation, which cited an increase in import costs for U.S. employers. A separate study from the U.S.-China Business Council estimated up to nearly 250,000 lost jobs as a result of the tariffs.
Again, the very reason that China wants to move some of its parts manufacturing to Mexico is because of the USA-Mexico-Canada policy “no less favorable” protections. It allows them a way to avoid the tariffs that Trump had previously placed on China.
And not only did his tariffs lose jobs - they also didn’t decrease the USA-China Trade deficit.
The U.S. trade deficit over the four years of President Donald Trump’s presidency soared to its highest level since 2008, despite his tough tariff tactics intended to bring it down, a new Commerce Department report showed on Friday.
The combined U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased to $679 billion in 2020, compared to $481 billion in 2016, the year before Trump took office. The trade deficit in goods alone hit $916 billion, a record high and an increase of about 21 percent from 2016.
Trump failed in one of his major trade policy goals because the U.S. trade deficit is driven more by macroeconomic factors, like how much a country spends and saves, than it is by tariffs and foreign trade practices, analysts said.
So really Trump is presenting a previously failed solution for a problem that doesn’t really exist. He’s promising to yet again, fuck the auto industry up with failed wrong-headed ideas. That is his “context.”
That was when he said this:
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, that’ll be the least of it.
Was he going to say “bloodbath for the whole [auto industry]” because he literally didn’t say that. He stopped himself from what he was going to say. We don’t know what it was, but whatever it was — he got scared to say it. Why would he be scared to say there would be problems in the auto industry? I mean, it’s not true as I’ve shown - but why not go ahead and say that?
Then he says - “that’s going to be the least of it.”
The least of what? What could be worse than a bloodbath? It’s going to be “bloodbath Plus?” A super-blood bath? More like a Blood Shower? Or would it be like a Blood Waterfall? A Blood Niagra? If that’s the least - what’s the worst of it?
He doesn’t say.
Then he goes further and he says again — correcting what he didn’t say at first — “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
So is he still talking about cars here? Is this still about the auto industry? I mean as I’ve said before '“cars don’t bleed” so if we’ve gone from the auto industry to the “WHOLE”…. “COUNTRY” — what are talking about then? The “whole country” doesn’t make cars, the manufacturers are only in certain states and cities - not the “whole country.” Whatever is going to happen to the “whole country” is not that.
Whatever could he mean? At that point, he goes back to cars. In the full version of this article, I go on to use interviews with various MAGAs as to what *they* think would happen if he doesn’t win. The first person suggests World War III, the Second suggests Civil War and the third suggests a “Race War.”
All of those would be a “bloodbath for the country.”
Trump Continued:
But they’re not going to be able to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories. A friend of mine, all he is build car manufacturing plants. He’s the biggest in the world. I mean honestly, I joke about it. [So he’s talking about Toyota - The Japanese company?] He can’t walk across the street, [Akio Toyoda who stepped down in 2023 is 67 years old, his replacement Koji Sato is 54] in that way he’s like Biden. [Biden rides mountain bikes!] but for building a plant he can do the greatests plants in the world. That’s all he cares about.
I said I’d like to see one of your plants recently, I said I like to see - where can we go? “We’ll have to travel to Mexico.” [Toyota has a battery plant in North Carolina and they’ve just invested $383 Million in US production.] Why Mexico? Because he said “that’s where the big plants are building. China is building really big plants in Mexico and Mexico is building” [The largest Auto Manufacturer in China is SAIC Motor Corp.] What about here? “We’re building much smaller plants.” Can you believe it? Can you believe it?
No, I really don’t believe any part of that “Dear, Sir” story because it makes no sense. The US is building some massive new plants, and a lot of it is happening because of Biden.
The US auto industry is pouring billions of dollars into building new factories, thanks to new federal legislation and increased demand for electric vehicles. As of November, the combined total for all auto manufacturer investments in 2022 was $33 billion, including new auto assembly plants and battery-manufacturing facilities.
According to the Center for Automotive Research, this total adds to the $37 billion committed by companies in 2021. Driving this investment is a series of bills passed by Congress last year to address climate change and invest in new jobs and manufacturing. At the heart of that legislation are investments in domestic semiconductor manufacturing as well as new EV and battery manufacturing, including facilities to process battery materials like lithium and graphite.
The biggest movers include Ford, which has multiple factory projects underway in Kentucky and Tennessee, where it recently began constructing its BlueOval City facility. In Georgia, Rivian recently committed to building a second factory, and Hyundai revealed plans for a $5.5 billion investment to expand their battery and EV production capabilities.
Ok, so what have we learned?
Well, in context, Trump is a massive liar.
He’s lying about the Auto Industry. He’s taking one small kernel of truth - China is building auto plants in Mexico - but after that he’s off to the races with lies.
[Note: I hadn’t listened to this in its entirety before transcribing it. I didn’t know that China really is building plants in Mexico until I started checking his statements, and I didn’t know why - but now I do, and he’s wrong. He’s wrong about everything.]
He’s lying about the impact of tariffs. He’s lying that US jobs are going to Mexico because they aren’t. He’s lying that they’re “Making cars in Mexico that they’re going to sell here” because they’re only making parts in Mexico [ED. also some new EVs] that are going into cars built here, instead of making those parts in Shanghai where they’d be subject to his tariffs. He probably can’t apply tariffs on parts [Ed or cars] from Mexico because of his own fucking treaty. He probably doesn’t have a “best friend who works for the BIGGEST Auto manufacturer” because — if he was talking about Toyota which is the largest car company— that guy just stepped down.
And that guy probably wouldn’t have told him the “biggest plants are in Mexico” because Toyota’s building some pretty big plants right here in the U.S. of A.
So is Ford, Rivian and Hyundai.
If he had named the guy or the company - someone would go ask him “did you have this conversation with Trump?” Which is how we know he didn’t. It’s why he keeps using the “Dear, Sir” trope - it can’t be checked and confirmed.
And whatever the fuck he was trying to say about “bloodbath” - it wasn’t about cars. If he was saying that without him they’ll be a “bloodbath” in the auto industry - that’s simply another lie. [You would have to place those words in his mouth, because he didn’t use them. And that’s you adding context that isn’t there.] The auto industry is doing great and frankly much better without him. But he didn’t say anything about cars there - he was saying something about the “whole…” and the “country.” So you can jump to a conclusion about what he didn’t say - but that jump doesn’t naturally lead you to “a bloodbath of cars.” That would be stupid. And we know he thinks his flock is all stupid.
Even if he was truly saying we’re going to have a “bloodbath” due to the Mexican cars made by China — that’s still basically racist bullshit. It’s not like that is not either a) a lie or b) bigoted. It’s both.
We know what he meant. He’s done it dozens of times before.
It’s the same shit he always means when he said “Mexicans are Rapists.” What’s the “other context” to that? It’s a lie. It’s the same thing he meant when he said “Immigrants are vermin.” When he said “Migrants are not people, they’re animals.” When he said they are “poisoning the blood of our nation.” Or when he said “Jews are traitors to Israel” for being Democrats which was like the second or third time he’d said that.
And it’s the same as when he went on a rant about “Shithole Countries.”
There was when he said there were “very fine people on both sides” at the Unite the Right riot. [And yes, I know he later said he wasn’t talking about the White Supremacists, but that’s more bullshit. It was literally a White Supremacy Rally - who the fuck else was there protesting to keep the Robert E. Lee statue up that wasn’t a White Supremacist? Seriously. Do some of those people exist? Sure, but frankly they’re only lying to themselves. Lee was a racist. He fought to support racism and slavery. Supporting him or his damn statute is racism. Period. He was essentially saying “some of those racists are deluded” that’s all.]
Then there was when he said “I don’t know anything about David Duke” even though years earlier he had condemned David Duke as a racist. So like he did know who David Duke was but just forgot? Really? You can just forget shit like that?
Just like when he said he “didn’t know anything about White Supremacy” and when he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” When he said he didn’t know much about “Qanon, except that they like me very much” while he was constantly retweeting their conspiracy theories.
There was the time he said “Fight”, “Fighting” and “Fight like hell or you're not going to have a country anymore” 20 times then once added “Peacefully” [because of his speechwriters] We know what happened right after that.
There was when he said the J6 defendants who violently injured 140 police officers, smashed windows and doors to get into the Capitol are “hostages.” They were tried and convicted in a court of law, right? Did those officers injure themselves? Did the windows and doors break themselves through magic? What is the other context here?
All of this — all of it together taken in context — betrays his supremacist mindset. This is not an occasional “slip of the lip” — he didn’t just “misspeak” — it’s clear, deliberate and purposeful. Nobody is dumb enough to repeatedly say stupid racist shit like this by accident. And if he is that dumb, what does that excuse say about him?
Oh, and Trump is the favorite candidate of White Supremacists.
The Anti-Defamation League describes the Proud Boys ideology as: "Misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration. Some members espouse white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups."
The Proud Boys have frequently been involved in street violence, and a former Proud Boys member helped organize the "Unite the Right" rally that prompted deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
After Trump's comments during the Tuesday night debate, far right groups took to social media to celebrate, and experts on extremism warned that the president essentially just helped the Proud Boys recruit.
Rita Katz, the executive director of SITE intelligence Group, which tracks far-right groups, told the Washington Post that Trump "legitimized" the Proud Boys in a way that "nobody in the community expected."
[…]
For years, white supremacists have looked at Trump's racist, xenophobic rhetoric as a source of encouragement. And some of the most prominent far right groups have openly embraced and endorsed the president.
Trump has not made a particularly strong effort to disavow their support, and his behavior has often aligned with their toxic worldviews. Earlier this month at a rally in Minnesota, for example, Trump told a crowd of nearly all white supporters that they have "good genes," echoing the views of neo-Nazis that white people are genetically superior.
In 2016, the Ku Klux Klan's official newspaper endorsed Trump for president. The Trump campaign denounced the endorsement, even as Trump continued to spread disinformation on immigrants and refugees in an effort to dehumanize and villify them.
Shortly after Trump won the election in 2016, white nationalists gathered for a conference in Washington to celebrate Trump's victory with Nazi salutes. Richard Spencer, a well-known neo-Nazi, in a speech opening up the conference said: "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!"
That’s not an accident. If you’re supporting Trump - you’re also supporting these people. They know that’s the case, they say so openly. Pretending that isn’t the case, doesn’t make it so.
I understand that occasionally, Trump has denied his connections and support for Racism and white supremacy. It’s fair to admit that he’s done that. But all that has done is muddy the waters. Here’s the thing - does it look like he’s been able to convince any of them that he’s not on their side?
Do they think any of those denials are legitimate? We’re supposed to believe something that none of them believe? I don’t think so. If he wanted to truly make it clear where he stands once and for all, I think he could do that in a way that even the Supremacist Hard-Right would believe. He hasn’t. They think he’s on their team. So yeah, I think he’s on their team.
This whole Right-wing “out of context” thing is merely an artful dodge. We can see exactly what it all means in context. It’s bullshit. This pattern is obvious, and people can see it clearly with their own eyes. These aren’t dog whistles - they’re bullhorn blasts. This isn’t some “plot to make Trump look bad.”
He does that shit just fine on his own.
You can join me debating the issues and the facts inside the belly of the beast on my Facebook Group: Army for Truth.
Have a listen to my new Vocal Cover — "Girl on Fire" originally by Alicia Keys and check out my new Patreon where you can download copies of my covers and original songs. You can also stream tracks from my previous Solo CD from ReverbNation.
And You can send Funds to Support me via Paypal