Former President Trump criticized some undocumented immigrants as “not people” and cautioned about a potential “bloodbath” if he is not reelected during a chaotic rally in Ohio on Saturday night. chaotic rally in Ohio on Saturday night.
Trump spoke in a Dayton, Ohio suburb on Saturday to campaign for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who faces a neck-and-neck primary against state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Tuesday.
The former president’s comments regarding migrants accused of crimes come as immigration continues to be a crucial issue for the 2024 election.
“I don’t know if you call them people,” he 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.”
Trump also depicted a bleak scenario if he loses the November election, claiming Biden would devastate the U.S. economy.
“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump said while discussing his proposal for steep tariffs on vehicle imports.
The Biden campaign criticized the remarks as part of Trump’s “threats of political violence.”
“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,” campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement.
Trump’s comments Saturday continue escalating language against immigrants, which started at the beginning of his 2016 presidential campaign by labeling Mexicans “rapists,” and more recently when he said migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
The latter comment drew comparisons to similar phrases in Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” a comparison Trump has denied and denounced.
The three-person race for the Ohio Senate nomination is expected to go down to the wire, with recent polls showing either Moreno or Dolan in the lead.
Moreno has gained the support of Trump and his allies, while Dolan is supported by more moderate political forces in the Buckeye State, including Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
General election polls have shown Dolan as the stronger candidate against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who faces a challenging campaign in a critical seat for Democrats to maintain their narrow Senate majority.
