Donald Trump was immediately scolded in 2015 when he announced his presidential candidacy by insulting Mexican immigrants as “rapists.”
Over three years later, with his mental fitness deteriorating rapidly, Trump revisited those controversial remarks to say that he didn’t go far enough.
During a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the president said that his initial characterization of immigrants from Mexico was “peanuts compared to what turns out to be the truth.”
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Trump indicates that when he called Mexicans “rapists,” he thinks it was really “peanuts compared to what turns out to be the truth.”
He then literally accuses visa lottery recipients of being murderers. pic.twitter.com/6rYfLicVko
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 2, 2018
As Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress also noted, Trump went on to label visa lottery recipients as killers.
During the same segment of his speech, Trump even imitated an MS-13 stabbing.
Here is the president of the United States mimicking an MS-13 stabbing as part of his effort to smear immigrants as violent murderers pic.twitter.com/k8KMv44e8o
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 3, 2018
In Trump’s initial remarks in 2015, he said, “[Mexico is] sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume are good people.”
The speech was immediately panned largely because of his offensive characterization of immigrants – but now, apparently, Trump regrets not being tougher.
The president’s rhetoric is becoming more dangerous and divisive
With Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation continuing to intensify, Trump is becoming increasingly desperate. As a result, his rhetoric is becoming more dangerous and divisive.
Whether it’s the disturbing language directed toward the media, his continued war against American institutions, or Thursday’s insulting anti-immigrant rhetoric, Trump has gone so far off the deep end that he can no longer see the shore.
With Mueller nipping at his heels, Trump’s behavior suggests that he knows he is going down. Instead of going quietly, the president has chosen to burn the whole place down with him.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
