(Wellington) Comments by Donald Trump against migrants provoked scandalized reactions on Sunday in the United States, with the White House denouncing a speech that “echoed” the rhetoric of “fascists”.
“They are poisoning the blood of our country,” the former US president declared at a partisan rally on Saturday in New Hampshire, attacking the Democratic Party’s policy towards migrants.
“They are poisoning psychiatric institutions and prisons,” and “are coming en masse to our country” from “all over the world,” said the Republican billionaire who hopes for re-election in the 2024 presidential election.
PHOTO REBA SALDANHA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Donald Trump held a partisan rally in New Hampshire on Saturday.
A White House spokesperson, Andrew Bates, responded by emphasizing the duty of leaders to “bring the country together” and “not divide them with hatred and cruelty”.
Echoing the grotesque rhetoric of violent fascists and white supremacists, and threatening oppression of those who disagree with the government, are dangerous attacks on the dignity and rights of all Americans, our democracy, and public safety
Andrew Bates, White House spokesperson
In the past, Donald Trump had already stated that the migration crisis at the border between the United States and Mexico was “poisoning the blood of our country”.
In mid-November, he also compared his political opponents to “vermin”. Joe Biden’s campaign team then accused him of “imitating the autocratic language of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.”
The increasingly violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, well ahead in the polls for the Republican primaries, places his party leaders in a highly uncomfortable situation.
One of his Republican competitors, Chris Christie, is one of the only ones to openly criticize him.
“Donald Trump is poison for our political system,” the former New Jersey governor attacked on CNN on Sunday. “We can’t beat Joe Biden with someone who talks about migrants like that. »
But the former tenant of the White House also found support with Senator Lindsey Graham: Donald Trump “obtained results at the border,” he argued on NBC. “I don’t care what language people use, as long as we do things the right way. »