With less than six weeks until Election Day and early voting already underway in several states, former President Donald Trump has doubled down on a familiar political strategy: attacking immigrants. As he campaigns in what he acknowledges will be his final presidential bid if he loses, Trump is reviving the same anti-immigrant rhetoric that launched his political career nine years ago. told by Alternet.
A recent Gallup poll shows that anti-immigrant sentiment is at its highest in over two decades, with 55% of Americans wanting to see immigration reduced—a figure that parallels the sentiment in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric reached new heights during a recent debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. In a bizarre and false claim, Trump accused immigrants of eating pets in small towns across America, including Springfield, Ohio.
“What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come in,” Trump said, targeting Vice President Harris and President Joe Biden. He went on to claim, without evidence, that immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats… and this is what’s happening in our country. It’s a shame,” Trump declared.
Although this lie was swiftly debunked, Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance, continued to spread the falsehood. The dangerous rhetoric has even led to bomb threats targeting over 20 facilities in Springfield. However, Trump’s anti-immigrant tirades did not stop there. This week, he took it a step further, adding new elements of fear-mongering by referencing immigrants supposedly carrying machine guns. report from Ground News.
At a manufacturing policy speech, Trump warned of criminals walking around American streets armed with “the worst weapons you’ve ever seen” and claimed they were taking over apartment buildings and towns. He expanded on this narrative during a rally in North Carolina, accusing Venezuelan immigrants of orchestrating “hostile takeovers” of American towns like Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado.
“They’re going in with guns that are beyond even military scope, taking over real estate… These are young street gang members sent here by the Venezuelan government,” Trump claimed sarcastically.
Trump’s baseless accusations and inflammatory remarks have been widely criticized. Mark Jacob, a media critic and former editor at the Chicago Tribune, condemned Trump’s rhetoric, stating, “Trump’s lies to foment hatred against immigrants keep getting more vivid and unhinged, and major media are DOING A
