WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Askume) – Donald Trump on Saturday issued his harshest words yet against immigrants, particularly young women, who cross the border illegally and commit crimes.He also intensified personal insults against Kamala Harris .
In the battleground state of Wisconsin, Trump called Democratic Vice President Harris, who on Friday made her first visit to the US-Mexico border for her 2024 presidential campaign, “retarded” and “retarded.”
The Republican presidential candidate was surrounded by posters of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. who have been arrested for murder and other violent crimes, as well as banners that read “End Immigration Crime” and “Deport Illegal Immigrants Now.”
His speech was unusual in focusing almost entirely on illegal immigration. He called those who commit violent crimes “monsters”, “brutal murderers” and “disgusting animals”.
There will be a tough competition between Trump and Harris before the election on November 5. According to surveys, immigration and the southern border are among the top concerns of voters.
After Trump’s speech, Harris spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said, “He has brought nothing ‘inspiring’ to the American people, only darkness.”
The former president accused Harris and Democratic President Joe Biden of allowing undocumented immigrants to enter the United States and accused some immigrants of “raping, robbing, stealing, robbing and murdering the American people.”
“That was a disappointing speech,” Trump admitted at one point.
Trump’s speech took place in the small town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States in September was illegally detained for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and beating her daughter.
Government data shows nearly 7 million immigrants have been apprehended crossing the border illegally during the Biden administration, a record number that has triggered criticism of Harris and Biden from Trump and fellow Republicans.
During a visit to the border on Friday, Harris outlined her plan to fix “our broken immigration system,” accusing Trump of “fanning the flames of fear and division” over the impact of immigrants on American life.
Harris called for tighter asylum restrictions and vowed to make preventing fentanyl from entering the United States a “top priority.”
Trump also reiterated his false claim that his loss to Biden in the 2020 election was fraudulent. Trump said that if he is re-elected and “if he is allowed to do so,” he will sue those he blames for his failures.
Studies have generally found no evidence that immigrants commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans, and critics say Trump’s rhetoric reinforces racist views.
Trump in generalFocusing on young women allegedly killed by Hispanic assailants would drive the message home and avoid cases involving male victims.
Trump’s opponents accused him of exploiting grieving families to advance his message that people of foreign origin, often Hispanic, were part of the invasion force.
But some victims’ families welcomed Trump’s focus on violent crime and teen deaths caused by the opioid fentanyl, most of which enters the United States through the southern border.
Many parents who have lost children to attacks on immigrants living illegally in the U.S. or to fentanyl expressed support ahead of Trump’s speech on Saturday.
