Despite facing widespread criticism for language reminiscent of Nazi rhetoric, former President Donald Trump, in an interview with Sean Hannity, employed divisive language to describe the influx of migrants into the United States. Trump’s use of terms like “poisoning” and previous references to migrants as “vermin” and as “poisoning the blood of our country” has drawn parallels to the rhetoric used by Adolf Hitler and other fascist figures.
Despite the backlash from media figures and critics who see these expressions as inflammatory and dangerous, a poll suggested that such language may have resonated positively with Republican voters, potentially explaining Trump’s decision to revisit it during his appearance on Fox News Channel’s Hannity.
In the interview, following a speech at the border filled with what critics argue were false attacks and denigrating language about a migrant “invasion,” Trump continued to use divisive language. He claimed, “our country is being poisoned. We are really being poisoned.” Trump went on to allege that millions of people, including those from jails, prisons, and mental institutions, were entering the country, even suggesting the presence of terrorists.
Expressing concerns about a potential attack, Trump engaged in a conversation with Hannity about the demographic composition of migrants, emphasizing numbers from China, Yemen, and the Congo. He painted a grim picture of the situation, stating that the influx was turning the country into a dangerous place.
Trump attributed the rise in what he labeled as “migrant crime” to President Biden, but acknowledged using the term “Biden migrant crime” was too long. He predicted that the situation was just the beginning and criticized the inability to understand why the country would accept “millions of people from lots of bad places.”
The interview highlighted Trump’s persistence in framing immigration as a critical issue and his willingness to use controversial language to convey his stance. The discussion with Hannity touched on the challenges faced by cities, such as New York, in dealing with the increased numbers of migrants, with Hannity referencing the city’s sanctuary status.
Despite widespread criticism of its Nazi echoes, former President Donald Trump used “poisoning” language to describe the migrant influx into the United States in an interview with Sean Hannity.
Trump has been taking flak from media figures and others for months over his use of language that these critics link to that of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi and fascist figures — particularly his use of the terms “vermin” and “poisoning the blood of our country.”
But at least one shocking poll showed that it helped Trump with Republican voters more than it hurt him.
That could explain why on Thursday night’s edition of Fox News Channel’s Hannity, Trump rolled it out again. After a speech at the border filled with false attacks and denigrating language about a migrant “invasion,” Trump told Hannity “our country is being poisoned. We are really being poisoned”:
TRUMP: We had millions and millions of people, and they come from jails and prisons. They come from mental institutions. And, you know, a step above that, the insane asylums.
And you just — it’s just hard to believe. And you have terrorists coming.
You know, I’ve noticed, as somebody that watches your show a lot, I think your — I think you do a fantastic job, but you say 100 percent certain.
I hate to hear it, that we’re going have a big attack at some point, but you’re 100 percent —
HANNITY: I pray that I’m wrong.
TRUMP: Yeah, you’re probably right, and that’s a very sad thing.
But I’ve heard you say it a few times, and I said, I’m not going to dispute it. I hope you’re wrong, but there is certainly a good chance.
They’re coming from numbers in countries that we wouldn’t believe. So, you have 28,000 from China, all fighting age. You don’t see women and you don’t see men much older than that. It’s from 18 to 25, 26 years old.
And there’s something going on. And they’re coming from Yemen that we are bombing. They’re coming from the Congo, from prisons in the Congo.
The only good thing is it makes our prisoners look like very nice people, I’ll tell you, because these are rough people that are coming in.
When you see them from Venezuela fighting, having fistfights with the cop, we never saw that. You see cops be — a lot of bad things happen to cops, but you never saw people standing in the middle of the street with — in a fistfight.
And if that happened in their country, they’d kill them within seconds. They wouldn’t allow it. They wouldn’t stand for it.
So it’s a very terrible thing what’s — our country is being poisoned. We are really being poisoned.
And it’s hard to believe — you know, as a business guy, you always want to understand the other side. I want to understand — what does the other side thinking, even if you disagree. I don’t know what they’re thinking, because who could want this? Who could want millions of people from lots of bad places pouring into our country?
And you — we have not seen — this is just the beginning. You know, we’re just starting to see, I call it migrant crime. I really call it Biden migrant crime, but it’s too long. So, let’s just call it migrant crime, and everybody is going to know it’s because of Biden.
But we’ve never had anything like this. We have an inflow of people at numbers that are unbelievable. And you go back to New York and you see hundreds and thousands of people.
And you can see — look, the mayor is trying. He wants to do a job, but it’s just — it’s impossible.
HANNITY: Well, they made the city sanctuary — they made New York City a sanctuary city.
