Donald Trump's Bizarre Alvin Bragg Baseball Bat 'Threat' Explanation

Donald Trump has denied he incited violence to be carried out against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in one of his recent Truth Social posts, blaming the outrage on "fake news media."

On March 23, Trump shared an article on Truth Social that used an image of the former president holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg, the prosecutor leading the Stormy Daniels hush money investigation in which the Republican faces a potentially historic indictment and arrest over.

Hours later, Trump warned on Truth Social of the potential for "death and destruction" should Bragg's investigation result in a criminal charge against the former president, leading to accusations that Trump is inciting his supporters to carry out attacks and violent disorder with his social media activity.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Monday, the Fox News host asked Trump why he would "open yourself up to criticism" with his Truth Social posts.

Trump said that he was unaware that the news article he shared would use the image of him with a baseball bat next to Bragg, which was taken in the White House in July 2017 to promote a "Made in America" initiative. The post was later deleted from Trump's account.

"You have to understand that when the story was put up, we didn't see pictures, we put up a story that was very exculpatory, very good story from the standpoint of what we're talking about," Trump said.

"They put up a picture of me where I was holding the baseball bat at the White House...Then they put next to that picture, a picture of Alvin Bragg. I didn't do it. They did it.

"We posted the story, but they had a picture up, they then put a picture up, or the picture was put up that nobody noticed or saw or that nobody thought it was bad," Trump added. "These were two separate pictures.

"I was promoting 'Made in America,' you make these baseball bats instead of sending them over to Japan and China...This was a company, a good company, that makes baseball bats and other things like that in America. They took that picture from the White House and then they put a picture of Alvin Bragg up."

Hannity then asked Trump if he was aware of how the post was interpreted. Trump replied: "That's the fake news media show, that's what they do."

A number of Democrats and legal experts accused Trump of inciting violence against Bragg with his social media post, with the former president also calling for his supporters to protest what he claimed was an upcoming arrest in New York on Tuesday, March 21.

Jennifer Taub, author and law professor, tweeted while sharing a screengrab of Trump's baseball bat post: "This threat is obstruction of justice and is a dangerous call to violence. Everyone needs to speak out."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump's social media rhetoric is "reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible."

"It's dangerous, and if he keeps it up, he's going to get someone killed," Jeffries added.

Hours after Trump's "death and destruction" and baseball bat Truth Social posts, a letter containing white powder was sent to Bragg's Manhattan office. The powder was later found to be non-hazardous.

Bragg previously emailed his employees to state that authorities will not "tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York" following Trump's protest call.