“These are animals”: Trump steps up hate speech against immigrants

“These are animals”
Trump escalates hate speech against immigrants

April 3, 2024, 3:05 am

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He accuses his successor, Biden, of bloodshed and dehumanization of immigrants with his border policy: former US President Trump relied on extreme rhetoric in his election campaign. Now he's going a step further – and making more drastic statements.

Former US President Donald Trump, who has been campaigning against immigrants and foreigners for years, intensified his rhetoric during the election campaign and deliberately stoked fear. On the campaign trail in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump accused Democratic President Joe Biden of causing a “bloodbath” with his border policy. Trump said Biden's lax immigration policy meant the United States was facing an “invasion” of criminals from other countries coming out of prisons and “lunatic asylums” and attacking and killing innocent people in America. “These are animals, not people,” Trump said.

Under Biden, every American state is a border state and every American city is a border city, the incumbent presidential contender said in early November. “Because Joe Biden has brought us carnage, mayhem and murder from around the world and dumped it in our backyard.” Trump continued: “We will stop looting, raping, murdering and destroying our American suburbs, towns and cities.” If re-elected, he would seal the border on his first day in office. “We will begin the largest deportation operation in our nation's history,” the Republican said.

Not Trump's first “bloody” accusation

At the same time, he warned that if he is not re-elected as president, the country will cease to exist. Trump continues to use extreme rhetoric, use hateful and dehumanizing language, make racist statements and incite against minorities. He recently caused a stir in another context with the word “bloodbath” at the center of his speech in Michigan and displayed in large letters on his standing desk.

At a campaign event in Ohio in mid-March, the former president talked about how he wants to make it harder to sell Chinese cars in the U.S. market. He added: “If I am not elected, there will be a bloodbath. (…) It will be a bloodbath for the country.” It made big waves. Trump's campaign team weighed in, trying to argue that the 77-year-old was only talking about the U.S. auto industry and that the “bloody” quote was taken out of context. In Grand Rapids, Trump addressed the controversy, saying there was an attempt to misuse the term for him. What Biden is causing is literally a “bloodbath.”