Former President Donald Trump has once again sparked controversy with his inflammatory comments about undocumented immigrants and a warning of a "blood bath" if he is not reelected in the upcoming presidential election. Speaking at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday night, Trump denounced some undocumented immigrants as "not people" and made a dire prediction about the country's future if he loses the November election.
"I don't know if you call them people," Trump said at the rally. "In some cases they're not people, in my opinion. But I'm not allowed to say that because the radical left says that's a terrible thing to say." These comments echo Trump's previous use of pejorative language against immigrants, which began at the launch of his 2016 presidential campaign when he called Mexicans "rapists" and recently when he said migrants are "poisoning the blood of our country."
The former president's remarks have drawn comparisons to similar phrases in Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," a comparison Trump has denied and denounced. However, his continued use of such language has raised concerns about the potential impact on public discourse and the treatment of immigrants in the United States.
In addition to his dehumanizing comments about undocumented immigrants, Trump also warned of a "blood bath" if he is not reelected. While discussing his proposal for steep tariffs on vehicle imports, Trump said, "If I don't get elected, it's going to be a blood bath for the whole - that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a blood bath for the country."
The Biden campaign swiftly denounced Trump's comments, characterizing them as part of his "threats of political violence." James Singer, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement, "He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge."
Trump's campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, attempted to clarify the "blood bath" comment, stating that it was not about violence but rather an extension of Trump's comments about imported cars. "If you actually watch and listen to the section, he was talking about the auto industry and tariffs," Cheung wrote in an email, adding that "Biden's policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and autoworkers."
The rally in Ohio was held to support Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is in a tight three-way race for the Republican nomination against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan. Moreno, a Colombian immigrant and businessman, made his own controversial remarks about immigration, claiming that foreigners who come to the United States should learn English and that "we don't need to vote in five different languages."
Immigration is expected to be a critical issue in the 2024 presidential election, with both Trump and President Biden recently staging dueling visits to Texas border towns to address the recent surge in illegal immigration. Trump has pledged to launch an unprecedented deportation effort if elected, drawing inspiration from a 1954 program called "Operation Wetback" that used military-style tactics to remove Mexican immigrants from the country.
