Republican presidential frontrunner and former US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) said the illegal immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country”, a remark that had earlier drawn widespread criticism as racist and xenophobic. He also slammed President Joe Biden for his border policies, calling him “someone who has a low IQ”.
Speaking at a rally in Durham in New Hampshire, Trump said that immigrants from Asia, Africa and South America were “pouring into our country”, news agency Reuters reported. “They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” he said.
“They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, all over the world,” he added.
The 77-year-old Republican leader has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration if elected for a second four-year term in office.
This is not the first time that Trump has used the “poisoning the blood” remark in his White House campaign.
In September, the former US President used the same language during an interview with the right-leaning website, The National Pulse. The remark drew condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based Jewish advocacy group, whose leader, Jonathan Greenblatt, called it “racist, xenophobic and despicable”.
Attacking Biden at the New Hampshire rally, Trump said his successor was “truly the worst, most incompetent and most corrupt president in the history of our country”. He asserted that if re-elected, he would “bring our country back from hell”.
“As long as Joe Biden is in the White House, the American Dream is dead,” Trump was quoted as saying by The New York Post.
In October, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the criticism of the former US President’s language was “nonsensical”. He asserted that such statements were already there in books, TV and news articles.
Trump, who held the presidency from 2017 to 2021, has focused largely on border security in his re-election campaign. He has said in previous rallies that he would restore the hardline policies on illeg immigration and enact new ones to cut down on legal immigration.
On the other hand, Biden has sought to implement more orderly and humane immigration policies, but his administration has struggled with record levels of migrants, an issue which could hurt his re-election chances.