Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump raised the specter of violence around upcoming midterms Wednesday, saying he did not want to see "unnecessary" unrest days after he reportedly warned evangelical leaders of violent change if Republicans lose control of Congress. When asked by a reporter why he had on Monday suggested there would be violence around the November elections, Trump simply said "because that's the way." "If you look at what happens ... there's a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country, and I don't want to see it," he said. At a meeting with evangelical leaders at the White House, Trump had said everything was at stake for his conservative agenda if his party loses, according to an audiotape of the meeting obtained by the Times. Democrats "will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently," Trump reportedly said. "They will end everything immediately." "When you look at Antifa," he added, referring to militant leftist anti-fascism groups, "and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people." Monday did not mark the first time Trump has warned of violence if things did not go his way. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he said his supporters would probably react violently if he did not win the Republican nomination. "I think you'd have riots," Trump warned. The Times said reporters were allowed to listen in on brief comments by Trump during the Monday meeting with ministers and pastors, and heard him talk about abortion, religious freedom and youth unemployment. But after the press was shown out of the room, Trump changed the subject and suggested how the evangelical leaders could help Republicans win in November, the Times reported. "I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote," Trump said. "Because if they don't -- it's Nov. 6 -- if they don't vote we're going to have a miserable two years and we're going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election -- you're one election away from losing everything you've got."<doc-sep>Donald Trump has warned there will be "violence" if his Republican Party lose November's midterm elections. Speaking to evangelical leaders in a private meeting, the US president called the vote, a “referendum” on free speech and religious freedoms, warning the rights of Americans were under threat from “violent people”. Mid-term elections are seen as a key test of a president’s popularity. All 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the 100-member Senate are up for election, along with 36 out of 50 state governors and numerous state and local government offices. The result of this year's vote are keenly anticipated after Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former lawyer, and Paul Manafort, his ex-campaign chairman, were convicted of financial crimes earlier this month. “This November 6 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. It’s a referendum on so much,” Mr Trump said in a speech leaked to US media. “It’s not a question of like or dislike, it’s a question that they will overturn everything that we’ve done and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence. When you look at Antifa, these are violent people.” Antifa, or anti-fascists, regularly stage counter protests against white supremacists and neo-nazis when they march through American towns and cities. Mr Trump has come under fire for blaming last year's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on “both sides”. The rally attracted national attention after 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a car ploughed through a crowd of counter-protesters. James Alex Fields has been charged in connection with her death. President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty The president continued by urging the religious leaders: “You have tremendous power. You were saying, in this room, you have people who preach to almost 200 million people.” Some of those who were present at the meeting downplayed the remarks. Jerry Falwell Jr told National Public Radio journalist Sarah McCammon: “Nobody walked out of there thinking that the Democrats were going to shoot us all.” Activist Ralph Reed added that Mr Trump said "if the Democrats take the House there will be virulent opposition to his agenda. He said some of those groups on the left incite and advocate violence and mentioned Antifa.”<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump warned evangelical leaders this week that Democrats would "overturn everything that we've done, and they'll do it quickly and violently" if Republicans lose control of Congress in the midterm elections in November. Speaking to a group of ministers and pastors Monday evening in the State Dining Room of the White House, the president painted a striking image of what could happen if Republicans lose control of the House and Senate this fall, according to a recording of his comments provided to The New York Times by an event attendee. "They will end everything immediately," Trump said. "When you look at antifa," he added, referring to the anti-fascist movement that describes radical, left-leaning militant groups, "and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people." The president's comment are reminiscent of his remarks following the white supremacist riot last year in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which he placed "blame on both sides." Trump also leveraged the threat of violence during the 2016 presidential campaign when he said that his supporters would likely act violently if he did not earn the Republican Party's nomination. "I think you'd have riots," he said at the time. On Monday, Trump also warned the gathering of Christian leaders that his conservative base might not turn out at the polls in big numbers for Republican congressional candidates because he is not on the ballot in November. "I think we're doing very well, and I think we’re popular," the president said. "But there’s a real question as to whether people are going to vote if I'm not on the ballot, and I'm not on the ballot." According to the Times, reporters were allowed to listen in on brief comments made by Trump during Monday's meeting with ministers and pastors, over the course of which he also talked about abortion, religious freedom and youth unemployment. After the press was shown out of the room, Trump reportedly changed the subject, suggesting that evangelical leaders could help Republicans come out on top in November. "I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote," he added. "Because if they don't — it's Nov. 6 — if they don't vote, we’re going to have a miserable two years. And we're going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election. You're one election away from losing everything you've got." FiveThirtyEight's most recent estimate of the race for Congress shows that Democrats have a slight national advantage over Republicans – 48.7 to 39.4 percent.