President Donald Trump is facing backlash after his speech on affordability at a rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday evening veered into another anti-immigration message.
Addressing the roaring crowd, Trump—who has ramped up his immigration crackdown since an Afghan national was identified as the sole suspect in the shooting of two National Guards in D.C. last month—talked about the sweeping measures he is pitching on both legal and illegal entries into the U.S. His actions have prompted concern from immigration support groups and activists who fear the far-reaching measures, impacting various communities, amount to collective punishment.
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“I’ve announced a permanent pause on third world migration, including from hell holes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries,” said Trump. When someone in the Pennsylvania crowd appeared to yell out “sh*thole,” the President laughed and responded: “I didn’t say ‘sh*t-hole.’ You did!” (Trump encountered widespread criticism during his first term in 2018 over comments about “sh-thole countries.”)
Trump went on to target certain countries with inflammatory, anti-immigrant remarks by recalling a conversation he said he once had with Democratic Senators.
“I said: ‘Why is it we only take people from sh-thole countries, right? Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few. Let us have a few from Denmark. Do you mind sending a few people? Send us some nice people. Do you mind?’” Trump recalled. “But we always take people from Somalia. Places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
The President’s singling out of Somalia comes shortly after protesters—and Democratic lawmakers—condemned his targeting of Minnesota’s Somali Community. During a Cabinet meeting last week, Trump said that Somalia is “barely a country” and referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage.”
“Our country’s at a tipping point, we could go bad, one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking garbage into our country,” he claimed.
The President has long pointed to well-documented instances of “fraud” in Minnesota involving people of Somali ancestry and welfare programs, seemingly blaming the community as a whole rather than the individuals involved.
Trump doubled down on his anti-Somali rhetoric on Tuesday evening and once again targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Congresswoman for Minnesota, who was born in Somalia.
Claiming that Omar does “nothing but b-tch,” Trump said the lawmaker comes from a county considered to be “the worst” in the world. “We ought to get her the hell out,” the President said, pausing as members of the crowd chanted “send her back.”
Omar—who has been involved in many public disagreements with Trump—responded to his latest remarks, saying his “obsession” with her is “beyond weird.”
“Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead,” said Omar via social media, reacting to a clip of the President’s speech. “He continues to be a national embarrassment.”
Just last week, Democratic Representatives Gregory W. Meeks of New York and Sara Jacobs of California, along with Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Cory Booker of New Jersey, issued a strong statement against Trump’s charged discourse about Somali immigrants.
“Instead of using the power of the presidency to bring our country together, President Trump chose to attack an American immigrant community, the overwhelming majority of whom are law-abiding and have made many positive contributions to the United States,” they said in a joint statement, labeling Trump’s rhetoric as “xenophobic and unacceptable.”
Read More: Protesters Condemn Trump’s Targeting of Minnesota’s Somali Community: ‘This Is Our Country, Not His’
The Trump Administration’s efforts on affordability were intended to be the focus of his speech on Tuesday evening. Amid growing concern among Americans about the economy, the impact of tariffs, and the cost-of-living crisis, Trump is facing mounting questions—even among his supporters—about whether or not he’s fulfilling his affordability pledge.
Aside from speaking out against immigration, Trump told his supporters in Pennsylvania that “America is winning again” and blamed the Biden Administration for inflation.
“They gave you high prices… we’re bringing those prices down rapidly, lower prices, bigger paychecks,” he claimed, adding that he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again.”
In a Truth Social post shared after his speech, Trump once again championed his second term thus far.
“There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my results are among the best,” he told his 11 million followers.
The post Lawmaker Calls Trump a ‘National Embarrassment’ After President’s Latest Anti-Immigration Tirade appeared first on TIME.
