In a fiery rally held in the battleground state of Wisconsin, former US President Donald Trump continued his aggressive campaign against immigration, painting a stark and divisive picture of the issue ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The rally, held in the small community of Prairie du Chien, where a Venezuelan immigrant was recently detained for alleged sexual assault, became a platform for Trump’s controversial rhetoric.
Trump capitalized on the recent case, wrongfully claiming that immigrants in the US are violent criminals. He repeatedly referred to undocumented immigrants as “stone-cold killers”, “monsters” and “vile animals”, while displaying posters of immigrants arrested for violent crimes and calling for an end to “migrant crime” and the immediate deportation of undocumented individuals.
The rally came a day after Vice President Kamala Harris visited the US-Mexico border for the first time during her 2024 presidential campaign. Trump seized this opportunity to launch a personal attack on Harris, calling her “mentally disabled” and “mentally impaired.” He blamed Harris and President Joe Biden for the influx of undocumented immigrants, claiming that some immigrants are intent on “raping, pillaging, thieving, plundering and killing the people of the United States of America.”
Trump even admitted that his speech was “dark,” arguing that Harris is guilty of erasing the US border and jeopardizing the nation’s sovereignty. He insisted that Harris “can never be forgiven” for her immigration policies and must not be allowed to become president. He further criticized Harris’s record on immigration, highlighting a video compilation of her previous statements on the issue, labeling her “a disaster,” “incompetent” and “a bad person.” He even went so far as to call her a “Marxist.”
The attacks on Harris didn’t end with Trump’s speech. His running mate, JD Vance, delivered a similarly aggressive address in Newton, Pennsylvania, where he also targeted Harris, labeling her as lacking substance, a plan, and a record of accomplishment during her time as Vice President. Vance, without providing evidence, claimed that Harris played a key role in exacerbating inflation and the country’s economic struggles, blaming her for the perceived lack of border control and the resulting “invasion” of immigrants. He argued that the presence of immigrants is driving up housing costs.
Trump’s and Vance’s rhetoric, while inflammatory and lacking factual backing, reflects the growing focus on immigration as a key issue in the 2024 election. Their aggressive campaigning against immigrants and their personal attacks on Harris highlight the deeply divisive nature of the issue and the political landscape in the US.
