Donald Trump continued to hammer President Joe Biden over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday as he campaigned in two midwestern swing states critical to the outcome of the 2024 election.
Trump, who has vowed to launch the largest domestic deportation operation in the country’s history if he wins a second term, gave a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which he accused Biden of allowing a “bloodbath” that was “destroying the country.”
The former president referred to immigrants in the U.S. illegally who are suspected of violent crimes as “animals.”
“Under Crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town,” Trump said during his speech, where he stood flanked by law enforcement officers in uniform before a line of flags.
While illegal border crossings have hit record highs during Biden’s presidency, Trump and Republicans have pointed to specific crimes alleged to have been committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally to attack Biden. Polls suggest Trump has an advantage over Biden on immigration issues as many prospective voters say they’re concerned about illegal border crossings
Trump on Tuesday focused on the killing of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, a Michigan woman who was found dead on the side of a Grand Rapids highway on March 22.
Police say she was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite. He told police he shot her multiple times during an argument before dropping her body on the side of the road and driving off in her red Mazda.
Authorities say Ortiz-Vite is a citizen of Mexico and had previously been deported following a drunken driving arrest. He does not have an attorney listed in court records.
Trump had told conservative Michigan radio host Justin Barclay on Monday that he’d “love to have” members of Garcia’s family in attendance “if they’d like to be there — it’d be in my honor.”
Her sister pleaded on Facebook last week for reporters to stop politicizing her sister’s story.
He also again mentioned the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, for which a Venezuelan man is charged. Riley’s family attended Trump’s rally in Georgia last month and met with him backstage.
Trump referred to the suspect in Riley’s death as an “illegal alien animal.”
“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals,’” he said.
Top Republicans from across Michigan had packed into a conference room in the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids to hear Trump speak in a county he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. Outside the event center, over 100 supporters stood in a cold rain to line the street where Trump’s motorcade was expected to pass.
At a nearby park, a small group advocating for immigration reform gathered to hold a moment of silence for Garcia while holding signs that read “No human being is illegal” and “Michigan welcomes immigrants.”
Biden’s campaign accused Trump of politicizing Garcia’s death.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.