His illegitimate children were called bastards but nobody threatened them. I think he made that part up.
All leftists, repeat, ALL of them, when criticized, say they have received death threats. They usually say that the death threats are from right-wing Christian Nazi redneck thugs. They are especially quick to start the whining when they are caught red-handed in corruption, pedophilia, parole violations, drug abuse, manslaughter, vote stealing, lies, plagiarism and other liberal specialties.
All illegitimate children, by definition, are called bastards. It's in the dictionary.