(NewsNation, The Hill) — Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff to Donald Trump says he is disappointed in the media for not adding context to Trump’s quote after the former president denounced some undocumented immigrants as “not people” and warned of a “bloodbath” for the country’s auto industry if he is not reelected.
“I didn’t realize this until I went to do the research. It’s a conversation about Chinese automakers trying to use Mexico to get cars into the United States,” Mulvaney explained during a Sunday interview on “NewsNation Prime.” He suggested that Trump’s remarks were specifically addressing concerns about the American automotive industry, a critical issue in Ohio where the rally was held.
However, Mulvaney conceded that Trump’s choice of words might not have been optimal. “The language itself is unpresidential,” he admitted, acknowledging the potential for misinterpretation.
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Sunday also ripped into what he described as the “ridiculous attack” on Trump.
“And now you have this ridiculous attack on Donald Trump coming out, like we were all there, we heard exactly what he said,” Vance said Sunday during an interview with “Fox and Friends.”
Trump’s remarks were made last Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is facing a close primary against state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose this week.
“I don’t know if you call them people,” Trump said at the rally. “In some cases they’re not people, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say.”
The former president later argued the U.S. will have serious issues if President Joe Biden is reelected when discussing his proposal for steep tariffs on vehicle imports. Trump called for a 100 percent tariff on cars made outside the country and argued the industry would only be protected with him in office.
“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,” Trump said.
Vance, who also attended the rally, on Sunday sought to clarify and reinforce Trump’s remarks.
“He was saying that if you allow the Chinese to run the [electric vehicle] industry, which is what Biden’s policies are promoting, you’re going to destroy the industry in this country. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the auto industry. He’s 100 percent correct about that,” Vance said.
The Ohio Republican, a staunch ally of Trump, took a dig at the media’s coverage of Trump’s remarks, and argued the comments were taken out of context.
“And again, I think it shows how low the media is willing to go to cover for Joe Biden. They know that they cannot win this election, if it’s about Joe Biden’s record, the border policies, the inflation and so forth,” he said.
“So, they’re just going to lie about it for the next eight months, which is why it’s so important that we have real journalists, why we have X.com, why we push back against this craziness, because I think if the American people know the truth, they’ll vote for Bernie Moreno, they’ll vote for Donald Trump, and we’ll have a great election in 2024.”
Elon Musk, owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, similarly called out what he called “legacy media lies,” in reference to the media coverage of Trump’s remarks.
The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump’s most recent remarks are reminiscent of those he’s made in the past, dating back to the launch of his 2016 campaign, when he accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals across the border into the U.S. Late last year, Trump argued immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country, drawing comparisons to Nazi leaders.