CNN’s New Day took issue today with reports that President Donald Trump suggested a violent outcome if the GOP loses the coming midterm elections in a closed-door meeting he recently hosted with evangelical leaders at the White House. Alisyn Camerota put reports of White House “fear-mongering” in stark relief, with fellow co-host John Avlon calling it a “dangerous new low.”

Some context, per NBC News Trump talked to these leaders about being on the same side and laid out the midterm stakes in dramatic fashion:

“The level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable,” he said. “Part of it is because of some of the things I’ve done for you and for me and for my family, but I’ve done them….This November 6th election is very much a referendum on not only me, it’s a referendum on your religion, it’s a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment.” If the GOP loses, he said, “they will overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently, and violently. There’s violence. When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people.”

The New York Times‘ report on the meeting confirms these quotes, and notes that he also encouraged religious leaders to be vocal ahead of the midterms, quoting Trump as saying “You have people that preach to almost 200 million people — 150 to, close, depending on which Sunday we are talking about, and beyond Sunday, 100, 150 million people.”

Watch the clip above courtesy of CNN.

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