Trump warns of border crisis
GRAND RAPIDS: Donald Trump doubled down on his heavily criticised warning of a coming American “bloodbath” on Tuesday as he told supporters US communities faced “plunder, rape and slaughter” at the hands of illegal immigrants.
In some of his most inflammatory comments to date on border security, Mr Trump accused President Joe Biden of unleashing “carnage, chaos and killing” in a country he said was flooded with drugs and besieged by foreign criminal gangs.
“I stand before you today to declare that Joe Biden’s border bloodbath... it’s a bloodbath, and it’s destroying our country and it’s a very bad thing happening,” he said in an apocalyptic campaign speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“It’s going to end on the day that I take office.”
The f ormer president — who faces a rematch against Mr Biden in November’s election — spoke out as the Republican National Committee launched BidenBloodbath.com, a website warning of an “invasion aided and abetted by Joe Biden.”
While addressing the potential loss of auto manufacturing jobs to foreign countries last month in Ohio, Mr Trump warned if he wasn’t reelected, “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
Hours after Grand Rapids, he repeated his fierce messaging at a rally in Wisconsin, where he savaged Mr Biden for allowing what Mr Trump called “an invasion of our country.”
“We will liberate this nation from crooked Joe and his migrant armies of dangerous criminals once and for all,” he told supporters holding “Fire Biden” signs in Green Bay.
Mr Biden’s campaign and Democrats accused him of fomenting “political violence,” prompting an indignant response from Trump aides who said it was clear the tycoon was using the term to describe economic devastation.
Mr Trump is often criticised for using extreme language that experts fear increases the risk of violence, whether in social media posts about his multiple prosecutions or at his rallies.
He referred to illegal immigrants accused of criminality as “animals” in his fire-and-brimstone Michigan speech, highlighting the killings of several young women, allegedly by foreign nationals.
“Under crooked Joe Biden every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town,” he thundered.
“Because Joe Biden has brought the carnage, chaos and killing from all over the world and dumped it straight into our backyards.”
He vowed to stop the “plunder, rape, slaughter and destruction of our American suburbs, cities and towns,” comments he reiterated in Wisconsin.
While illegal border crossings hit record highs during Mr Biden’s presidency, violent crime — in Michigan and nationwide — has been dropping since it spiked under Mr Trump.
Mr Trump was aiming to jumpstart his campaign with back-to-back rallies in swing states.