Trump defends shot at migrant flood: ‘Absolutely, that’s poisoning our country’

Former President Donald Trump solidified his remark that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country” and shot back at critics by claiming he’s “not a student of Hitler.”

Mr. Trump repeated the “blood” phrase numerous times this week despite receiving backlash from both sides of the aisle.

The former president called into conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt’s program Friday, reiterating his claim. Mr. Hewitt pressed Mr. Trump by asking what exactly he meant.

“When you look at it, and you look at what’s coming in, we have, from all over the world, not one group, they’re coming in from Asia, from Africa, from South America. They’re coming from all over the world,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re coming from prisons. They’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. They’re terrorists. Absolutely, that’s poisoning our country. That’s poisoning the blood of our country. And that’s what’s happening.”

Mr. Trump first made the anti-immigrant remark at a campaign rally in New Hampshire over the weekend while speaking about the record number of illegal U.S./Mexico crossings under President Biden.

Democratic lawmakers and the White House rebuked the former president’s comment, arguing that immigrants are the lifeblood of the country and labeling Mr. Trump’s statements as fascist rhetoric that echoed dictators throughout modern history, like Adolf Hitler.

Some Republicans, including Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, defended the former president, saying he could have been talking about fentanyl entering the country through illegal border crossings and that Mr. Trump “actually delivered” on a strong southern border.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, responded by pointing out his wife, an immigrant from Taiwan, was in the Trump Cabinet.

“It strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao secretary of transportation,” Mr. McConnell said.

Some critics said Mr. Trump’s phrase is reminiscent of one used by Adolf Hitler in his book “Mein Kampf,” where he claimed Jews were “poisoning” the blood of Germans.

Mr. Trump denied any racist sentiments. The former president contended he’s polling well with Blacks and Hispanics and touted the work he did with criminal justice reform and strengthening funding to historically Black colleges and universities.

“First of all, I know nothing about Hitler. I’m not a student of Hitler. I never read his works,” Mr. Trump said. “They say that he said something about blood. He didn’t say it the way I said it, either, by the way, It’s a very different kind of a statement.”