Writing after a deadly attack in New Orleans which killed 14 people, and after an unconnected incident at one of his hotels, Donald Trump adds nothing positive to the discussion and instead wades in with inflammatory comments designed to provoke anger and rage.
While Trump is on video stating that America needs more migration, that particular belief seems to go only as far as Elon Musk needs it to and no further. Trump was quick to link the New Orleans attack to immigration, posting on X in his usual misinformed manner, despite both attacks being carried out by individuals born and raised in the U.S.
The series of posts, posted soon after midnight, states that the “USA is breaking down,” and that only Trump’s “powerful leadership” can save it. Rhetoric one might expect from Trump, but his words go further than usual. In the posts, which are written in Trump’s frenetic and disorganized style, he blames the recent tragedies on immigration. Citing a supposed “Open Border’s (sic) policy” under President Biden as the cause of a dystopian vision of the future, Trump states his vision of a tragic future where crime is so bad it’s “hard to even imagine” — and all because of Joe Biden and immigration.
While it’s easy to see these latest posts are seemingly the typical run of the Trump mill, the severity, ferocity, and timing of the posts make them stand out among a sea of similar content from the incoming president. As reported in The Guardian, these comments have drawn reactions from figures in leading global institutions against extremism and hate for being so much worse than what Trump usually puts out — and at a particularly dangerous time.
Co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism Heidi Beirich said of Trump’s post that “it’s about the most extreme language you can get when it comes to anti-immigrant comments.” Beirich correctly explains that Trump’s sustained attacks on immigrants in general and his incorrect attribution of blame for these attacks, which were not carried out by immigrants, “are certainly going to raise the level of violence and attacks on immigrants in the country.”
Trump has never been especially careful with his words, as the scenes around the Jan. 6th riots can attest. He lays the blame for America’s woes on both immigrants and the very institutions of the country — the FBI and the DOJ — over which he will preside come Jan. 20. The very same institutions that will be necessary to combat terrorism.
Brian Levin, the founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor emeritus at California State University, said that Trump’s comments following similar scenarios “fuelled an upsurge” in hate crimes, saying, “when the president or other high, really high political figures use stereotypes and conspiracy theories or incomplete information, it ends up reverberating into aggression on the streets.”
Trump is the very definition of high political figures using stereotypes, conspiracy theories, and incomplete information to whip his base into a frenzy. While this kind of irresponsible rhetoric has worked well for him as an electoral tool, it is completely inappropriate and dangerous for the president of the United States — or indeed, any country — to use. By talking about an America “worse than ever imagined,” Trump has created a prophecy that his own words and actions work to fulfill, at great risk and peril to hundreds and thousands of lives.