Donald Trump referred to Democrat Kamala Harris as “mentally impaired” and claimed that illegal immigrants aim to harm ordinary Americans in their homes, as he intensified his racially charged rhetoric during his unprecedented campaign to reclaim the US presidency.
Mr. Trump was retaliating against Ms. Harris after her visit to the US-Mexico border on Friday, where she pledged to enhance control over asylum claims and undocumented migrant crossings.
This topic ranks as one of the Democratic vice president’s least favorable in polling, as she is neck-and-neck with Mr. Trump ahead of the 5 November election.
Mr. Trump dismissed Ms. Harris’s speech at the border, cursing and telling supporters in the small town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, that President Joe Biden and Ms. Harris are accountable for an “invasion” of violent criminals.
The 78-year-old businessman—the first significant presidential candidate in US history to be a convicted felon and involved in multiple ongoing court cases—described former California prosecutor Ms. Harris, 59, as “dumb”.
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country,” he stated.
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Meanwhile, Ms. Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco, California, where she remarked that Mr. Trump was employing “the same tired playbook we’ve heard for years”.
“This election is about two very different visions for our nation, and we see that contrast on the campaign trail,” she asserted.
Mr. Trump delivered his speech in Wisconsin while flanked by large mugshots of migrants accused of crimes, portraying a nightmarish image of an America under violent siege—even though this year has seen a decrease in illegal border crossings and what the FBI reports as a significant overall drop in crime, particularly murder.
“They will walk into your kitchen, they’ll cut your throat,” Mr. Trump stated about illegal immigrants.
“Small towns in America are terrified of migrants coming in, and even when they haven’t arrived, they’re terrified,” he added. They will “rape, pillage, thieve, plunder, and kill the people of the United States of America”.
These illegal migrants, whom he labeled “animals,” are purported to take jobs from minorities and union workers, he continued.
Seemingly agitated by Ms. Harris’s attempt on Friday to deliver a strong message at the Mexican border, Mr. Trump swore during the nationally streamed event and called her “a liar”.
He expressed dissatisfaction that Fox News, the conservative outlet that has provided him with a steadfast platform throughout his White House tenure, had aired Ms. Harris’s speech.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to put it on,” he remarked.
Clearly, Mr. Trump recognized that his address deviated from the traditional themes Americans have come to expect in presidential campaigns.
At one juncture, he paused to comment: “Isn’t this a wonderful and inspiring speech? I’ve got people sitting in the front row – they’re going ‘oh my God’.”
“This is a dark, this is a dark speech,” he concluded.
