Trump Sharpens Anti-Migrant Attacks as Both Candidates Visit Key States

AFP/APP

Rancho Palos Verdes: Donald Trump doubled down Friday on his anti-migrant rhetoric despite facing backlash for promoting a conspiracy theory targeting Haitian immigrants.

As both he and election rival Kamala Harris took their presidential campaigns to critical swing states, the race for the White House intensified.

At 78, Trump pledged “large deportations” during a stop in Ohio, a state at the center of a racially charged dispute. His remarks came ahead of a planned rally in Nevada, a key battleground state in the west.

Meanwhile, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, campaigned in Pennsylvania, a crucial state among the half-dozen expected to decide the closely contested election on November 5.

After a strong showing in Tuesday’s televised debate against Trump, Harris gave her first solo sit-down interview since her nomination to an ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city. “I offer a new generation of leadership,” Harris said, detailing her policies on tax cuts, and credits for new parents, homeowners, and businesses.

She also made an appeal to moderate voters, emphasizing her support for the right to bear arms while advocating for common-sense gun safety measures.

Later at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Harris reiterated her economic plans and criticized Trump for his debate performance.

‘Large Deportations’

With just seven weeks until election day, polls show the candidates locked in a tight race. Trump, stung by widespread consensus that Harris won the debate, has ramped up his anti-immigration stance, a move designed to galvanize his right-wing base.

On Thursday, Trump made incendiary claims at a rally, alleging that “young American girls (are) being raped and sodomized and murdered by savage criminal aliens.”

On Friday, he focused again on Springfield, Ohio, a town thrust into the spotlight due to a viral conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants had stolen and eaten residents’ pets. Despite being debunked by local authorities, Trump referenced the conspiracy during the debate.

As tensions rise in Springfield, where approximately 20,000 Haitians have settled in recent years, authorities closed schools for a second day due to unspecified threats.

Trump claimed that immigrants were “destroying their way of life” and vowed mass deportations. “We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country,” he declared from his golf club in California.

Former President Joe Biden called on Trump to stop stoking fears, stating, “There’s no place in America for this.”

Trump’s rally in Nevada later on Friday was expected to address economic concerns like inflation, although many of his recent speeches have devolved into grievances and inflammatory rhetoric.