“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump told a rally in the city of Durham,adding that immigrants were coming to the US from Asia and Africa in addition to South America. “All over the world they are pouring into our country.”
Trump used the same “poisoning the blood” language during an interview with The National Pulse,a right-leaning website,that was published in late September. It prompted a rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League,whose leader,Jonathan Greenblatt,called the language “racist,xenophobic and despicable.”
Jason Stanley,a Yale professor and author of a book on fascism,said Trump’s repeated use of that language was dangerous. He said Trump’s words echoed the rhetoric of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler,who warned against German blood being poisoned by Jews in his political treatiseMein Kampf.
“He is now employing this vocabulary in repetition in rallies. Repeating dangerous speech increases its normalisation and the practices it recommends,” Stanley said. “This is very concerning talk for the safety of immigrants in the US.”
In October,Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung had dismissed criticism of the former president’s language as “nonsensical,” arguing that similar language was prevalent in books,news article and on TV.