Trump finds a despicable new way to dehumanize immigrants

The GOP base loves him for this

Being the son of a Palestinian immigrant father, there has always been something personal about Donald Trump peddling hate and lies against non-white immigrants. I’ve often wondered if my late father—who immigrated to the United States in the mid 1950’s—would’ve chosen this nation to make a new life if a bigot like Trump was a leading politician at the time who had made demonizing immigrants the cornerstone of his campaign.

That same question came to mind again Saturday after Trump’s latest effort to gin up hate against people whose only “crime” is believing in the famous poem on the pedestal of the Statute of Liberty that promises our nation was to be a refuge for the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

This incident occurred Saturday afternoon when Trump—at a gathering of conservative “Christians”—shared with the crowd his “Hunger Games” themed idea of pitting migrants against each other in physical combat. Trump first asked the adoring audience if they ever heard of Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)? From there, Trump boasted that he had told White: “Why don’t you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league of fighters.” Trump continued, “And then you have the champion of your league — these are the greatest fighters in the world — fight the champion of the migrants.” Trump then added, “I think the migrants’ guy might win, that’s how tough they are.”

With Trump being at a Christian event, you might have expected him to speak of the teachings of Jesus Christ in an effort to connect with the audience. For example, Trump could’ve quoted from the famous passage in Matthew, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” 

But Trump is not about Christianity. Trump is only about what he believes can help him return to power.  Plus to be blunt, the people at the right wing Faith & Freedom Coalition where Trump and other MAGA Republicans spoke are more animated by hating people different then themselves than by compassion. Their religion has become Trump—as backed up the crowd cheering Trump despite his words and actions being an insult to the teachings of Jesus.

Obviously, Trump’s point with his migrant fighting proposal was that despite the toughness of the professional UFC fighters, the migrants coming to America are actually stronger, tougher and more dangerous.  Trump wants his supporters—who are primarily white—to view migrants as a threat that only he can protect them from.

This is the same theme Trump has made since he first ran for president nine years ago, telling the crowd that migrants coming over the Southern border were, “bringing crime. They’re rapists.” The irony of course is now that Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies and is charged with crimes in three other jurisdictions, he is the one bringing crime.  And given a jury last year in a civil case found that Trump had sexually assaulted journalist E. Jean Carroll, Trump is the person who has been adjudicated as a rapist.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has escalated his demonization of migrants with comments like they are “poisoning the blood of our country”—which was condemned as parroting not just white supremacists but also Adolph Hitler who wrote about the “contamination of the blood” in Mein Kampf.  Trump has also repeatedly claimed that migrants were responsible for a spike in crime when in reality in 2023, our nation was at or around its lowest violent crime rate in more than 50 years. Plus studies show immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than people born in the US.

But facts have never mattered to Trump. All that matters is what Trump believes will help him personally.

Trump did though say one thing that was accurate Saturday.  That moment came when Trump told the audience that UFC head Dana White didn’t like the migrant fight league idea, adding, “But actually, it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

Trump is telling the truth there, this migrant fighting league is vile--but it’s not his worst idea. That is reserved for a few other Trump’s ideas including his effort to overturn the 2020 election to remain in power despite losing--which has resulted in Trump being charged with numerous criminal charges in both federal and state court.

There’s also Trump’s idea to invite his supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, for a “wild” time and then direct the angry crowd to the Capitol to “Stop the Steal.” This is a big reason why the House Jan 6 committee concluded in their final report that, “the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump,” adding, “None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.” And we can add to “worse” ideas than the migrant fighting league, Trump’s repeated celebration of the Jan 6 attackers, including recently praising them as  “warriors,” and vowing to pardon his supporters who sought to end our democratic Republic on Trump’s behalf.

Trump proposing a dehumanizing physical battle between migrants who would then fight the UFC champions--which conjures up Roman gladiator matches—is simply more evidence of Trump’s moral depravity. It’s also another reason why Trump must be defeated this November. A convicted felon who attempted a coup and has politically weaponized hate should never be permitted to serve as President of this great nation ever again.

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