Trump's Final Campaign Sprint: A Dive into Unchartered Depths
Donald Trump's campaign takes a chilling turn as he resorts to invoking authoritarian leaders, using these warnings to launch attacks against his opponents in the final sprint before the Iowa caucuses
Donald Trump's rhetoric reached a new, alarming low this past weekend, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. The GOP primary front-runner made comments about migrants "poisoning the blood" of the US and quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the "rottenness" of American democracy.
Whipping up thousands of supporters at a New Hampshire hockey rink on Saturday, the former president once again sparked controversy with his comments about migrants from mostly Africa, Asia and South America "poisoning the blood of our country."
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Trump repeats anti-immigrant rhetoric at New Hampshire rally
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CNN reported that President Joe Biden's reelection campaign alleged that the language used by a certain individual resembles that of Adolf Hitler. Experts cited passages from Hitler's manifesto "Mein Kampf," in which he called for racial purity and claimed that German blood was being contaminated by Jews.
Previously, Trump used the line in an interview with a conservative news outlet. Bringing it out for a rally suggests he could be adding it to his routine. Last month, he drew criticism for describing his political rivals as "vermin," another term with antisemitic connotations used in Nazi rhetoric.
After being called out for their fascist roots, the repetition of these lines is even more disturbing than their initial utterance. The former president, who is leading Biden in some swing-state polling for a hypothetical rematch, has a history of using language that fuels racial prejudice and energizes the right wing.
His recent repeated statement about wanting to be a "dictator" for a day in order to construct his border wall and halt immigration could be dismissed as a joke if he didn't continue to repeat it.
At a rally in Reno, Nevada on Sunday night, the third GOP-nominating state, Trump made unsubstantiated claims that migrants are largely coming from prisons and mental institutions. He also speculated, again without evidence, whether Chinese migrants crossing the border are intended to be part of an invading army. Trump vowed to refocus the US government to rid the country of migrants, citing that the US is now a "haven for bloodthirsty criminals." He stated his intention to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, in order to expel migrants from the country. Additionally, the former president pledged to redirect the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration to border operations.
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Trump says this is why he 'wanted to be a dictator'
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CNN
Invoking authoritarian leaders is no longer a surprise
Republican former House Speaker Paul Ryan described Trump as a populist, authoritarian narcissist last week, stating that historically, his tendencies align with narcissism, doing whatever makes him popular or feel good in the moment. Despite Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election after his loss, he requires an electoral victory to become a dictator. During a recent speech, he referred to his campaign as a "righteous campaign to liberate this nation" and claimed "we are not a free nation," receiving cheers from the audience.
Trump's praise of authoritarian leaders like Kim Jong Un and Viktor Orban is no longer surprising. In a recent speech in New Hampshire, he pushed back against accusations from his rivals, such as Biden and Liz Cheney, who claim he is a threat to democracy for contesting the results of the last election.
Trump is now asserting that Biden is the real "threat to democracy." To support this claim, Trump referenced Putin's statement from September, in which Putin described Trump's legal issues as "politically motivated persecution" beneficial to Russia. Trump then quoted Putin, highlighting the Russian president's view that the U.S. political system's corruption undermines its ability to promote democracy to others.
Putin is well aware of corrupt systems and has a history of imprisoning his political opponents. Followers of Putin's main competitor, Alexey Navalny, are unable to find the dissident leader, who is currently serving a 19-year prison term.
Trump is currently involved in various legal proceedings, but it remains to be seen whether he will face trial. If he does, a unanimous jury decision will be required for a conviction. Prosecutors have asked the US Supreme Court, which includes three of his appointees, to consider whether Trump, as a former president, is immune from prosecution.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a rival of Trump in the Republican presidential race, stated that the upcoming trials are leading to Trump's heightened rhetoric.
"Donald Trump is aware that he's in a tight spot," Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday. "He's becoming more erratic. And now he's using Vladimir Putin as a reference, a man who is a brutal dictator globally."
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican who supports Trump, appears unconcerned with the former president's statements. "We're talking about language. I could care less what language people use as long as we get it right," Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press." He also clarified that he disagrees with the poisoned blood analogy, and expressed his support for legal immigration and his opposition to terrorists and drug dealers.
Trump uses warnings about him to attack opponents
Twisting a warning about him and turning it into a rallying cry for his supporters is a classic Trump tactic.
The mainstream media was only labeled as "Fake News" by Trump after Hillary Clinton raised concerns about misinformation, which she dubbed as "fake news." According to The Washington Post, Trump made his first use of the term in a tweet on December 10, 2016, a day after Clinton's warning. Trump has since claimed to have coined the term, using it frequently, even at the New Hampshire event.
Similarly, he has falsely referred to the idea of losing the 2020 election as a "big lie," appropriating it from the strategy of Nazi propagandists, who aimed to convince their followers that repeated false claims were true. The term "big lie" also appears in "Mein Kampf." Almost 70% of Republicans and GOP-leaners in a CNN poll in August do not believe that Biden's victory was legitimate.
Tapper also played for Christie video of Trumps comments about migrants "poisoning the blood of the country."
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'He's disgusting': Chris Christie responds to Trump's campaign comments
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Christie called him "disgusting." She accused him of dog-whistling to stressed and strained Americans, blaming their problems on people who look different.
Christie, on the other hand, stated that Republicans could vote for Trump regardless of the comments, not because of them. According to two CBS News/YouGov polls released on Sunday, Trump is leading the Republican primary field in both New Hampshire and Iowa.
New Hampshire sees Trump with 44% support among likely GOP primary voters, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 29%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 11%, Christie at 10%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 1%.
Meanwhile, in Iowa, Trump leads with 58% support among likely Republican caucusgoers, with DeSantis at 22%, Haley at 13%, Ramaswamy at 4%, Christie at 3%, and Hutchinson at less than 1%.
As highlighted by CBS, there are significant variations in the potential voter demographics across different states. For instance, in New Hampshire, 57% of probable GOP primary voters support the general legality of abortion in their state, while only 26% of likely GOP caucus attendees in Iowa share this view. Additionally, almost half (48%) of likely GOP caucus attendees in Iowa identify as part of the MAGA movement, whereas only 33% of potential New Hampshire primary voters do so.
Due to Trump's influence in the party, the majority of Republican candidates are refraining from publicly criticizing him, in contrast to Christie.
During an interview with ABC News to promote her endorsement by New Hampshire’s anti-Trump Republican governor, Haley stated that Trump was the appropriate president for the era, but he must be held accountable for his actions on January 6, 2021. She emphasized the necessity for the country to progress beyond such tumult, stating, "My approach is different—no drama, no vendettas, no whining," pointing to her tenure as ambassador to the United Nations under Trump.
She has one month remaining to sell her approach before the initial Republicans begin expressing their views on the Trump-quoted Putin's criticism of the American process as being corrupt. This report includes contributions from CNN's Ariel Edwards-Levy.
