Donald Trump’s anti-migrant outburst denounced for its echoes of Hitler

Critics say the anti-immigrant outburst by the former US president echoes Hitler.

Immigrants cross over razor wire after crossing from Mexico into the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Donald Trump has said illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are “poisoning the blood of our country” in an outburst that critics denounced for its echo of white supremacy and Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

The former US president made the comment in a video interview with The National Pulse, a right-wing website, when he was asked about surging immigration at the Mexico border.

“Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from, and we know they come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists,” he said.

“Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. 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.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, called Trump’s comments racist and xenophobic. “Insinuating that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ … has the potential to cause real danger and violence,’‘ he said. “We have seen this kind of toxic rhetoric inspire real-world violence before in places like Pittsburgh.”

The perpetrator of the mass shooting of 11 worshippers at a synagogue known for its work with refugees in Pittsburgh in 2018 believed in the racist “great replacement” theory that white Americans are systematically being dislodged by non-white immigrants.

Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, called the comment “a normal phrase that is used in everyday life”. He added: “For anyone to think that is racist or xenophobic is living in an alternate reality consumed with nonsensical outrage.”

The storm about his remarks broke as ABC News reported that Trump revealed secrets about the capabilities of US nuclear submarines to a billionaire Australian businessman who later discussed the details with 45 people, including former Australian prime ministers and journalists.

Anthony Pratt, 63, a Melbourne industrialist with cardboard box manufacturing plants across the US, is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where the former president, 77, allegedly discussed the US nuclear submarine fleet with him in April 2021.

The disclosure was reported to Jack Smith, the special counsel who has brought 40 charges against Trump related to the mishandling of classified documents.

“Pratt told Trump he believed Australia should start buying its submarines from the United States,” ABC reported, citing anonymous sources.

“An excited Trump – ‘leaning’ towards Pratt as if to be discreet – then told Pratt two pieces of information about US submarines: the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads they routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.”

The Times