WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s campaign condemned his predecessor Donald Trump for what it said “parroted Adolf Hitler” when Trump said undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” at a campaign rally on Saturday.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done,” Trump told a packed stadium in Durham, New Hampshire. “They’ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world they’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia.”
The former president continued, “They’re pouring into our country. Nobody is even looking at them; they just come in. The crime is going to be tremendous, the terrorism is going to be.”
In September, the GOP frontrunner used the same language during an interview with The National Pulse, when discussing illegal immigration. At the time, Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, called Trump’s comments racist, xenophobic and despicable.
“Insinuating that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ echoes nativist talking points and has the potential to cause real danger and violence,’’ Greenblatt said.
While in New Hampshire, Trump also cited Russian President Vladimir Putin to bolster his claim that the four indictments he is facing are political persecution.
“Vladimir Putin of Russia says that Biden’s, and this is a quote, ‘politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy,’” Trump said, adding, “They’re all laughing at us.”
Trump went on to praise North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, whom he noted was “very nice.” “He’s not so fond of this administration, but he’s fond of me,” Trump said.
The Biden campaign denounced Trump’s remarks, drawing parallels to other authoritarian leaders.
“Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong Un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy,” Biden-Harris 2024 spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “He is betting he can win this election by scaring and dividing this country. He’s wrong.”
Trump maintains a commanding lead for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, making him Biden’s likely general election opponent next November, according to a recent NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll.
The Biden White House also took a shot at Trump for saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
“It’s the opposite of everything we stand for as Americans,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Sunday.
“Echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists and threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government are dangerous attacks on the dignity and rights of all Americans, on our democracy, and on public safety,” Bates said.
A spokesman for Trump, Steven Cheung told NewsNation that Trump “gave a great speech and knocked it out of the park in front of over 10,000 people who came out to see him.”
He added, “Contrast that with mainstream media and academia at-large who have given safe haven for dangerous anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric that is both dangerous and alarming considering what is going on in the world.”