By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and JILL COLVIN (Associated Press)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of unleashing a “bloodbath” at the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday, escalating his inflammatory rhetoric as he campaigned in two midwestern swing states likely to be critical to the outcome of the 2024 election.
Trump, who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to launch the largest domestic deportation operation in the nation’s history if he wins a second term, accused Biden of allowing a “bloodbath” that was “destroying the country.” In Michigan, he referred to immigrants in the U.S. illegally suspected of committing crimes as “animals,” using dehumanizing language that those who study extremism have warned increases the risk of violence.
“Under Crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town because Joe Biden has brought the carnage and chaos and killing from all over world and dumped it straight into our backyards,” Trump said in Grand Rapids, where he stood flanked by law enforcement officers in uniform before a line of flags.
While violent crime is down, Trump and other Republicans have seized on several high-profile crimes alleged to have been committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally to attack Biden as border crossings have hit record highs. Polls suggest Trump has an advantage over Biden on issues as many prospective voters say they’re concerned about the impact of the crossings.
Trump continued to hammer the theme at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tuesday evening as the state was holding its presidential primaries. Trump accused rogue nations of “pumping migrants across our wide open border,” and “sending prisoners, murders, drug dealers, mental patients, terrorists” — though there is no evidence any country is engaged in that kind of coordinated effort.
He also claimed that migrants would cost the country trillions of dollars in public benefits and cause Social Security and Medicare to “buckle and collapse.”
“If you want to help Joe Biden wheel granny off the cliff to fund government benefits for illegals, then vote for Crooked Joe Biden,” he said. “But when I am president, instead of throwing granny overboard, I will send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home.”
On Tuesday, the White House emphasized that immigration is a positive for the U.S. economy. They argued that recent gains in immigration have helped to boost employment and sustained growth as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to bring down inflation.
“We know immigrants strengthen our country and also strengthen our economy,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Tuesday’s briefing, noting that immigrants were the ones doing the “critical work” on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore when it collapsed after being struck by a ship.
Trump on Tuesday focused on the killing of Ruby Garcia, a Michigan woman who was found dead on the side of a Grand Rapids highway on March 22. Police say she was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite. He told police he shot her multiple times during an argument before dropping her body on the side of the road and driving off in her red Mazda.
Trump inaccurately called Garcia, who is 25 years old, a 17-year-old.
Officials state Ortiz-Vite is from Mexico and was previously sent out of the country after being arrested for drunk driving. He does not have a lawyer listed in court records.
In his comments, Trump mentioned that he had talked to some of her family. However, Garcia’s sister, Mavi, disagreed with his version of events. Fox 17 reported that they had not. She told them in a text message, declining to comment further. She also requested on Facebook last week for journalists to stop making her sister’s story political, and on Tuesday asked for privacy, stating she only wanted “justice to be served” and to “be left alone.”
Trump also brought up the killing of a nursing student in Georgia. A man from Venezuela who officials say came into the U.S. unlawfully has been accused. Riley’s family attended Trump’s rally in Georgia last month and met with him backstage.
Trump referred to the suspect in Riley’s death as an “illegal alien animal.” Laken Riley“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals,’” he said. FBI statistics indicate overall violent crime decreased again in the U.S. last year. In Michigan, violent crime reached a three-year low in 2022, according to the latest available data. Crime in Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, also decreased, with the fewest murders last year since 1966.
Top Republicans from across Michigan filled a conference room in downtown Grand Rapids to listen to Trump speak in a county he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020.
Outside the event center, over 100 supporters stood in the cold rain to line the street where Trump’s motorcade was expected to pass.
At a nearby park, a small group advocating for immigration reform gathered to hold a moment of silence for Garcia while holding signs that read “No human being is illegal” and “Michigan welcomes immigrants.” In Green Bay, some supporters endured snowfall for three hours outside to enter the venue.Biden’s campaign, which has been criticizing Trump for his role in obstructing a bipartisan border deal that would have added more than 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection personnel, in addition to other restrictions, anticipated the speech by accusing Trump of making the death political.
“Tomorrow, Donald Trump is coming to Grand Rapids where he is expected to once again attempt to make a tragedy political and spread hate and division to conceal his own record of failing Michiganders,” said Alyssa Bradley, the Biden campaign’s Michigan communications director.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, stated Monday that there is “a real problem on our southern border” and that it’s “very important that Congress and the president solve the problem.”
“There was a solution on the table. It was actually the former president that encouraged Republicans to walk away from getting it done,” Whitmer said. “I don’t have a lot of tolerance for political points when it continues to endanger our economy and, to some extent, our people as we saw play out in Grand Rapids recently.”
Trump has been
using very strong language
to talk about the increase of migrants at the southern border. He has described migrants as “poisoning the blood of the country,” questioned whether some should even be considered people, and asserted, without proof, that countries have been releasing their prisoners and people from mental hospitals into the U.S.
blamed Biden
and the Democrats of attempting to “destroy the American system, invalidate the will of the actual American voters and create a new source of power that gives them control for generations.” In Green Bay, Trump spoke beside an empty podium that read, “Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace.” Trump said it was meant for Biden, whose campaign has not committed to participating in debates. Donald Trump continued to criticize President Joe Biden over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border as he returned to the campaign trail.
He has also accused Biden and the Democrats of trying to “collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations.”
In Green Bay, Trump spoke beside an empty podium that read, “Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace.” Trump said it was meant for Biden, whose campaign has not committed to participating in debates.
