Donald Trump, the criminally indicted Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, delivered alarming anti-immigrant remarks about “blood” purity, echoing Nazi slogans of World War II to cheers at a political rally.
Speaking in the early-voting state of New Hampshire, Trump drew on words similar to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kempf” as the former U.S. president berated Biden’s team over the flow of migrants.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump said about the numbers of immigrants coming to the U.S. without immediate legal status. Ironically, two of his three wives were immigrants who lived in America for years before becoming an American citizen. Both immigrant women also gave birth to one of Trump’s children. “All over the world they’re pouring into our country.”
Trump has used threats and dangerous vocabulary in continued repetition at his various MAGA rallies and criminal court appearances. Experts say that repeating threatening speech increases its normalization and the violent practices it commands.
Trump has also been under fire for doubling down on his expectation, reported by several media outlets, that he would serve as a dictator for life if elected to a second term.
On December 17, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates took aim at Trump and compared his caustic remarks — made during the campaign rally — to those of Adolf Hitler.
“Echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent White supremacists and threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government are dangerous attacks on the dignity and rights of all Americans, on our democracy, and on public safety,” said Bates. “It’s the opposite of everything we stand for as Americans.”
Drawing comparisons with dehumanizing language typically used by dictators and authoritarians, Trump has previously referred to his political enemies as “vermin.” In his bid to capture the White House again, Trump has threatened vengeance against his political opponents in the face of four criminal indictments against him.
“Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong Un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy,” said Ammar Moussa, a Biden-Harris 2024 spokesperson.
Over the December 16 and 17 weekend, senators and top Biden officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, worked intently behind closed doors at the Capitol to strike a border deal, which Republicans in Congress are using to hold hostage a massive $110 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security needs until their ultra-conservative demands were met.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a dramatic, if disappointing, visit to Washington on December 11 to plead with Congress and the White House for access to U.S. weaponry as his country fights against the Russian dictator’s invasion.
Many, but not all, Republicans have soured on helping Ukraine fight Russia, taking their cues from Trump who has shown a history of being subservient to the wishes of a brutal authoritarian like Putin.
The disgraced ex-president also praised Putin, quoting the Russian strongman during his December 16 rally, while slamming the multiple criminal investigations against him as politically motivated — including the federal indictment against Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election that resulted in the January 6, 2021 insurrection and attack on the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters.
Of Biden’s aid package, some $61 billion would go toward Ukraine, about half of the money for the U.S. Defense Department to buy and replenish tanks, artillery, and other weaponry sent to the war effort.
“All the eyes are on Congress now,” said Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s envoy. “We can only pray and hope that the deal they reach will come fast, and allow for the support to Ukraine.”
The Biden administration faces an increasingly difficult political situation as global migration is on a historic rise, and many migrants are fleeing persecution or leaving war-torn countries for the United States, with smugglers capitalizing on the situation.
The president has been berated daily by Republicans, led by Trump, to whip up their base through fear tactics.
The Biden administration, in considering a revival of Trump-like policies, has drawn outrage from Democrats and immigrant advocates who say the ideas would gut the U.S. asylum system and spark fears of deportations from immigrants already living in the United States.
The White House’s failure to fully engage Latino lawmakers in the talks until recently, or ensure a seat at the negotiating table, has led to a near revolt from leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Representative Nanette Barragan, D-CA, chair of the Hispanic Caucus, on social media. “We represent border districts and immigrant communities that will be severely impacted by extreme changes to border policy.”
Progressives in Congress are also warning the Biden administration off any severe policies that would bar immigrants from a legal path to enter the country.
