TEMPE, Arizona – Former President Donald Trump claimed Thursday during an Arizona rally that the U.S. is occupied by a “migrant invasion” and promised to “liberate” the nation if he is returned to the White House next month.
“We have got to get those animals out of here fast,” Trump said, referring to migrants who commit violent crimes. “The United States is now an occupied country, but it will soon be an occupied country no longer.”
Trump placed the blame squarely on Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival for the White House, who he bashed as a “low-IQ individual” who should be “disqualified” from running the country.
“She has eradicated our sovereign border and she has unleashed an army of migrant gangs who are waging a campaign of violence and terror against our citizens,” Trump said. “My message today is very simple. Kamala’s migrant invasion, given to us through gross incompetence, disqualifies her from even thinking about being president.”
Trump was in Arizona on Thursday to rally voters ahead of the fast-approaching Election Day. It was Trump’s fifth visit to the crucial Southwestern battleground this year and came just 12 days before votes are tallied on Nov. 5.
Trump is narrowly leading Harris in Arizona presidential polls, and both campaigns expect the election to be decided by a razor-thin margin.
Trump’s visit comes amid a flood of campaign events, rallies and visits from politicians in Arizona this week. President Joe Biden was set to fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
Trump has been under fire this week after his former White House chief of staff claimed Trump said “Hitler did some good things.”
The comments, reported by The New York Times, led Harris to call him a “fascist.”
Trump focused largely on immigration during his remarks at Mullett Arena on Arizona State University’s campus in Tempe. He claimed that migrants are taking jobs from Black and Hispanic workers in Arizona.
“Hispanic and Black are losing their jobs and it makes sense you have millions of people who are pouring in,” Trump said. “It started with the Black and Hispanic populations. And we’re just not going to let it happen. It’s so disgraceful.”
Trump’s comments came as he looks to appeal to young men, especially Black and Hispanic young male voters. Trump is leading Harris among Hispanic male voters under the age of 50 in Arizona, polls show.
Trump also told several stories of violent migrant crimes and said Harris is responsible for the “bloodshed.”
Migrant encounters at the southern border hit record highs during the Biden administration, reaching nearly 250,000 encounters at the peak in December 2023. The numbers declined sharply over the summer after Biden signed an executive order to limit asylum.
Migrant arrests have dropped by 55% since June, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Before coming to the college town of Tempe on Thursday, Trump’s Arizona campaign trips have included a rally at Dream City Church in Phoenix in June, an August swing that featured a Glendale rally and trip to the southern border, a rally in Tucson in September and most recently a rally in Prescott Valley.
Trump told the crowd he’s been watching his opponents’ media appearances, calling Harris’ CNN town hall an “incoherent train-wreck of a television interview.”
He also bashed President Joe Biden, who said in New Hampshire this week that “we’ve got to lock him up,” in reference to Trump. After a brief pause, Biden clarified that he meant “politically lock him up. Lock him out.”
“He’s such a stupid guy,” Trump said.
The Harris campaign responded to Trump’s visit by touting her support from a coalition of Arizona Republicans and independents.
“Those who know Donald Trump best are sounding the alarm about the risk he poses to the safety, security, and future of our country and democracy — which is why a historic number of Arizona Republicans and independents are putting country over party and backing Vice President Harris. Trump wants unchecked power, and it’s up to Arizona voters to decide whether they’re going to let him take it,” James Martin, Arizona coordinated campaign rapid response director, said in a written statement.
Trump allies lament \’nation in decline\’
Several of Trump’s allies helped warm up the crowd ahead of his appearance in Tempe. They painted a dark picture of a nation overrun by migrant-driven violence, though studies show migrants aren’t more likely than U.S.-born Americans to commit crimes.
Trump campaign senior adviser Stephen Miller vowed Trump would “send home every last criminal gang, every last criminal migrant, every last menace that has crossed our border to prey on the people of this state.”
Miller was a senior advisor on immigration during Trump’s time in the White House, helping to implement the “zero tolerance” policy that separated families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In the current election cycle, Miller has proposed building mass deportation camps to help carry out Trump’s campaign trail promise of “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” which Trump has said would involve the military.
Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy brought the crowd to their feet with a rousing speech that framed the election in existential terms.
“We are a nation in decline. That’s what we’ve become. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.”
The crowd stayed standing as he declared: “2024 is our 1776.”
“Either you believe in American exceptionalism, or you believe in apologizing for who we are. You cannot have both,” Ramaswamy said.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., returned to the theme of crime during fiery remarks that railed against the American left. Biggs called Harris and the Democrats “a bunch of liars” and suggested data coming from authorities, showing a decrease in crime, isn’t accurate.
Biggs addressed the “Hitler” controversy on stage at the rally, saying that Democrats are calling Trump a “Nazi” to try to politically damage him.
Kari Lake riffs on Bill Clinton’s comment she is \’physically attractive\’
Onstage, Trump urged voters to support Kari Lake, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona.
Lake is a Trump ally, though her relationship with the former president has reportedly cooled as her prospects of winning the Senate race appear slim. Gallego has the lead in most public polling.
At a campaign event in Phoenix the day before, former President Bill Clinton commented that Lake is “physically attractive.” Lake riffed on the remark onstage before Trump’s rally.
“As a middle-aged woman, I’m flattered,” Lake said.
“I thought I was a little too old for him. Doesn’t he like interns?”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump tells Arizona crowd that he will end ‘migrant ‘invasion’
