"Bloodbath" worries

Biden fears riots if Trump is defeated

(Bild: AP/Evan Vucci)

US President Joe Biden has suggested that violence could break out again if Trump is defeated. Voters and authorities should take his "bloodbath" threat seriously. Republicans, meanwhile, are busy denigrating the new Democratic ticket. 

"If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all," Biden told CBS on Tuesday when asked if he believed Trump would accept the election result peacefully. "He means what he says. We don't take him seriously. But he's serious about all this talk about a bloodbath if they lose."

Confusion about the "bloodbath" comment
The president was referring to a controversial statement Trump made at a campaign event in March, in which he warned of a "bloodbath" if he did not win the election. Trump later explained that he was referring to the US car industry and the economic impact.

The scene described for review:

Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden, continues to falsely claim to have won that year's election. He faces charges of attempting to illegally influence the election in Washington D.C. and Georgia.

After Biden surprisingly withdrew from the election campaign last month, his Vice President Kamala Harris is now running as the Democratic candidate against Trump. Since then, the Democrats have been on the upswing - also in the polls.

Millions every hour for Democrats
The momentum is paying off financially for Harris and Walz. As reported by the New York Times, the two collected campaign donations of more than 20 million US dollars (around 18 million euros) on Tuesday alone. The Democratic-affiliated fundraising platform ActBlue, which also benefits other candidates, recorded an average of three million US dollars (around 2.7 million euros) in donations within half a day - per hour.

Following the announcement of Walz as runner-up, Republican rivals focused on portraying the duo as extreme. "This is the most radical left-wing duo in American history," Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social. "There has never been anything like it and there never will be again." The 78-year-old also described Harris as "crazy".

His running mate Vance chose similar words. The Senator from Ohio said that the appointment underlined "how radical Kamala Harris is". Among other things, he accused the Democrat of having "listened to the Hamas wing of her own party".

Vice-candidate Walz has so far kept a low profile
Walz is particularly supported by the left wing of the Democrats. This wing is more critical of Israel than the center of the party. The left has repeatedly questioned the Biden government's Middle East policy recently. Walz has so far been rather cautious with regard to the situation in the Middle East.