Former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera has lashed out at Donald Trump for claiming migrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’ expressing his shock at the ‘extraordinary, hateful, Hitler-like quote.’
Trump drew astonished backlash from critics after making the remark in a recent video interview, where he repeated his prior claims that migrants are criminals, insane, terrorists, and diseased.
‘Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists,’ Trump said in the interview with The National Pulse, a right-leaning website.
‘It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you could have,’ said Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination.
Rivera, a veteran journalist and commentator, slammed the comment as ‘disgusting’ in a post on X, adding: ‘Not only does it harken back to the Nazi-era, it is also part of the shameful, vile, centuries old tradition of claiming falsely that immigrants carry diseases.’
Former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera has lashed out at Donald Trump for claiming migrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’ calling the remark ‘Hitler-like’
In a video post, Rivera continued: ‘That’s a quote — an extraordinary, hateful Hitler-like quote from the former president of the United States. That is shocking. It is outrageous.
‘It harkens back to the mid 19th century, when the Irish immigrants were accused of bringing all sorts of diseases from Europe to the United States.
‘It’s one of the reasons that they were hated by people, and then every successive wave of immigrants: the Italians, the Chinese, the Jewish, the Eastern Europeans.
‘Now, the Latin Americans are always accused of bringing diseases, a fact that is absolutely not true. In fact, when you look at the people, the largely Latino people who are coming undocumented to this country, they are walking fifteen hundred miles.
‘How many Americans could walk fifteen hundred miles, could walk through the jungles and cross rivers and so forth in search of a better life for themselves and their children?
‘To just — and to think that this guy was my friend. That is shocking. I’m so embarrassed. President Trump, former president, could say something like ‘poisoning the blood of our country’. That is absolutely indefensible. It is disgusting.’
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung hit back at critics in a statement, saying: ‘That’s a normal phrase that is used in everyday life – in books, television, movies, and in news articles.
‘For anyone to think that is racist or xenophobic is living in an alternate reality consumed with non-sensical outrage.’
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization, also slammed Trump’s words as reminiscent of Hitler, the genocidal dictator who presided over the murder of millions during World War II.
‘With their overtly divisive and prejudiced undertones, Trump’s words bear an alarming resemblance to the phrasing used by Adolf Hitler during Germany’s Third Reich, where he accused Jewish people and migrants of ‘causing a blood poisoning’ of Germany,’ the group said in a statement.
‘And to think that this guy was my friend. That is shocking. I’m so embarrassed,’ said Rivera, a onetime conservative commentator whose views turned against Trump in recent years
‘Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from. We know they come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions. You know, they’re terrorists,’ Trump said
Migrants cross the Rio Grande river border from Piedras Negras, Mexico, into the United States and climb up onto the banks on the Texas side on September 27
Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, wait on the banks of the US side of the river until Border Patrol arrive to cut open the razor wire installed by Texas National Guard on September 27
Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Trump’s comments had ‘echoes nativist talking points’
LULAC National President Domingo Garcia said the comments would ‘unleash unprecedented hatred towards desperate, mostly Latino asylum seekers he is targeting for political gain.’
‘Using the words ‘blood poisoning’ is deliberately calculated to create fear and scapegoat Christian refugees. His use of Nazi code speak is gutter politics unworthy of a presidential candidate,’ said Garcia.
Indeed, Hitler frequently used the phrase ‘blood poisoning’ to refer to the supposed threat posed by other ethnic groups.
The Nazi leader wrote in his memoir Mein Kampf: ‘All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning.’
Trump’s latest remarks about ‘blood poisoning’ also drew a stern rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, which pointed to similar language used by mass shooters.
‘Insinuating that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ echoes nativist talking points and has the potential to cause real danger and violence. We have seen this kind of toxic rhetoric inspire real-world violence before in places like Pittsburgh and El Paso. It should have no place in our politics, period,’ ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
He called the language ‘racist, xenophobic and despicable.’
‘And when anyone has a large platform, they need to be careful with their voice, but when you’re the former president of the United States, you absolutely need to recognize your responsibility because this kind of rhetoric is explosive and must end, full stop,’ Greenblatt said.
The controversial National Pulse interview was billed as a Trump interview that ‘the fake news doesn’t show you.’
The Trump interview, shot at Mar-a-Lago, dropped last week but has been gaining notice after an MSNBC host highlighted the quote on social media.
The reaction to the clip echoed the fury Trump drew at the start of his 2016 campaign, when he spoke of Mexican ‘rapists’ coming into the country.
‘They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.’ he said.
‘It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you could have,’ said Trump
Alejandro of Honduras carries his four-year-old daughter, Soy, as they walk past a wire fence while searching for an entry point into the US in Eagle Pass, Texas on Friday
Edith, a migrant from Venezuela, surrenders to a border patrol agent after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas on Friday
Immigration is now among the top concerns of American voters, with more than 10,000 migrants heading to the border each day, according to Mexico’s president.
Amid the concern, President Joe Biden is facing pressure to demonstrate he is working to stop the influx as he seeks re-election in 2024.
The Biden administration this week took two actions seen by many as moving to the right on immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security waived environmental and other reviews to construct new portions of a border wall in South Texas, after Biden pledged during the 2020 campaign that he would build ‘not another foot’ of wall.
And US officials said they would resume deportations to Venezuela not long after the administration extended protected status for thousands of people from the country.
The sudden reversals on migration issues drew criticism from both the left and the right.
Many Republicans accused Biden tardily stealing Trump’s policy ideas on a border wall, while liberals who oppose additional border restrictions furiously slammed Biden for betraying campaign pledges.
Upon taking office, Biden paused border wall construction and canceled the Trump administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ program for asylum seekers, but kept expelling many people who crossed the border under a pandemic-era rule until this past May.
Since then, border crossings have skyrocketed, which some observers blame on Biden’s administration for creating the perception that the border is open.
The crisis has sparked a backlash in some of the biggest US cities, including New York, Chicago, and Denver, where elected Democrats are breaking party ranks to criticize the White House, saying they are unable to cope with the influx of migrants.
New York Mayor Eric Adams went to Mexico this week to implore potential migrants not to come to his city.
He has accused the Biden administration of not providing enough money or resources for the city to process migrants, telling reporters this summer, ‘The president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue.’
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