US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday (7) that there are “a lot of bad genes” in the United States, while commenting on murders allegedly committed by immigrants living illegally in the country.
“How can they allow people to come in through an open border, 13,000 of whom were murderers,” Trump said in an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, when discussing the immigration policies of his Democratic opponent in the November 5 election, Vice President -President Kamala Harris.
“Many of them have killed many more than one person and are now happy living in the United States. You know, a killer, I believe that, is in his genes. And we have a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”
Trump appeared to be referring to a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales released last month that said 13,099 people convicted of murder are on ICE’s “no detainee” list, which includes several types of immigrants who entered the country legally or illegally.
In a statement, Trump’s campaign defended his comments, saying he was only talking about murderers, not immigrants.
“President Trump was clearly referring to murderers, not immigrants,” said Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“It is quite disgusting that the press is always so quick to defend murderers, rapists and illegal criminals as long as it guarantees a negative headline about President Trump.”
Immigration is a central theme of the Republican campaign
Donald Trump has made illegal immigration and the security of the United States’ southern border the central issues of his campaign. His influence in the party allowed him to pressure congressional Republicans to reject a bipartisan border deal earlier this year. The $118 billion project would be aimed at bolstering border security as well as offering aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Some Democrats opposed the bill because they believed some of the measures treated immigrants too harshly. Republican congressmen claimed that the measures were not severe enough.
At the end of February, Trump visited the border and promoted immigration policies similar to those of 2016 and 2020. In January of this year, Trump promised to use the “Alien Enemies Act” to remove from the United States known or suspected gang members, drug traffickers or cartel members.
The Republican has promised to shift large parts of federal law enforcement agencies to immigration, including parts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In his campaign speeches, Donald Trump emphasizes that the increase in violence in the United States is directly linked to the entry of illegal immigrants into the country.
The former president uses terminology that dehumanizes immigrants, calling them “animals” when referring to alleged criminal acts. On several occasions, the former president also said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country”, a phrase that received criticism for being xenophobic and reminiscent of Nazi rhetoric. In response to criticism, Trump stated that he had no idea that Adolf Hitler had used similar language.
This content was originally published in Trump says there are “a lot of bad genes” among immigrants in the US on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
