Countering corporate media concern over the former president’s rhetoric, a congresswoman’s defense left CNN’s Abby Phillip stammering to maintain the narrative.
(Video: CNN)
Efforts to malign former President Donald Trump as a dictator through comparisons to Adolf Hitler were a bridge too far for New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis. Monday, the Republican lawmaker joined “CNN NewsNight” where she stopped insistent host Abby Phillip from misrepresenting comments made Saturday about the southern border crisis.
“Let me start off by simply asking, is Trump right that immigrants are poisoning the blood of this country?” she asked the legislator after building up to the interview with a clip from the president’s New Hampshire speech and a slew of GOP figures previously commenting on the remarks.
“Well, I don’t think that’s what he was saying,” Malliotakis began. “When he said they are poisoning, I think he was talking with the Democratic policies. I think he was talking about open the border policy.”
“Congresswoman, you’re saying that’s what you think he’s saying. But he was pretty clear. He was saying that the immigrants who are coming in, he says they’re poisoning the blood of the nation,” argued the host.
“Never said ‘immigrants are poisoning’ though,” responded the congresswoman as Phillip added, “He was talking about people coming across the border.”
The New York representative remained steadfast, “He didn’t say the word ‘immigrants.’ I think he was talking about Democratic policies.”
Trump’s most recent use of the phrase had come during a speech in Durham, New Hampshire when he told supporters, “We got a lot of work to do. You know when they let — I think the real number is 15-, 16 million people into our country — when they do that, we got a lot of work to do. They’re poisoning the blood of our country, that’s what they’ve done, they poison. Mental institutions and prisons all over the world — not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world — they’re coming in our country.”
“From Africa, from Asia, all over the world, they’re pouring into our country,” the president continued. “Nobody’s even looking at ’em. They just come in. The crime is gonna be tremendous. The terrorism is gonna be — terrorism is going to be – and we built a tremendous piece of the wall and then we’re gonna build more.”
Trump evokes more Hitler talk when he says illegal immigration ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ https://t.co/zbOtWHVfcS via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) December 17, 2023
He had also clearly referenced lawbreakers when he had used the same language on Truth Social writing in all caps, “ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS POISONING THE BLOOD OF OUR NATION. THEY’RE COMING FROM PRISONS, FROM MENTAL INSTITUTIONS — FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. WITHOUT BORDERS & FAIR ELECTIONS, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
“He was talking about people, not policy,” furthered Phillip.
“I know that some people are trying to make it seem like President Trump is anti-immigrant,” Malliotakis pointed out. “The reality is, he was married to immigrants, he’s hired immigrants…”
She later asserted of Phillip’s point, “I just fundamentally disagree. I think what he was saying is that the Democratic policies, the policies of this administration that have allowed millions of people including — remember, we caught people on the terror watchlist. That should be concerning to us in New York City in a post-9/11 world.”
The congresswoman managed to squeeze in another dig at President Joe Biden’s administration as she rebuked it for prioritizing managing illegal entries ahead of those utilizing the proper channels for immigration.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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