Former President Donald Trump is currently on a tour through the southwestern United States, holding rallies in Tucson, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as hosting a press conference at his golf course in southern California.
Campaign statements indicate that Trump has focused on economic issues during his visits to Arizona and Nevada, where the cost of living, especially housing expenses, is a significant concern for voters. Economic challenges, particularly soaring rents and mortgages post-pandemic, have been a central theme.
On Friday morning, Trump used the high cost of living to criticize Vice President Harris, accusing her and California Governor Gavin Newsom of causing economic difficulties in the state. Speaking from Rancho Palos Verdes, Trump expressed his dismay, stating, “It’s very sad when I have to stand out here on my property and say how bad California is.”
During an event the campaign described as a press conference, Trump spoke for nearly 40 minutes and then answered questions from journalists for about 30 minutes. In his speech, he continued to disseminate false information about immigrant communities, similar to his previous statements at a post-debate rally in Arizona.
Trump reiterated debunked claims that legal Haitian migrants, whom he incorrectly labeled as illegal, are involved in abductions and consuming family pets. He also persisted in stating, without evidence, that Venezuelan gangs are rampant in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. In his California press conference, Trump promised mass deportations, specifically mentioning Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado.
“We will have the largest deportation in the history of our country. And we’ll start with Springfield and Aurora,” he proclaimed. Despite appeals from officials in these cities to stop inciting hostility in their communities, Trump and his campaign have not relented.
When questioned about the potential dangers of his rhetoric, especially in light of multiple bomb threats in Springfield connected to the Haitian migrant community, Trump deflected. He claimed the real threat is at the border, stating, “Because you have thousands of people being killed by illegal migrants coming in and also dying. You have women dying as they come up.”
Trump further suggested that upon entering the country, migrants become victims of sex trafficking and other crimes, without addressing the specific concerns about his rhetoric. He attempted to verify his claims about a rise in violent crime, attributing it to increased migrant-related crime, despite a lack of evidence. Additionally, he accused the FBI of falsifying its crime reports, without providing a rationale for his assertions. There is no evidence to support these claims about the FBI’s reporting practices.
The former president’s rhetoric continues to play into his campaign’s narrative of fear concerning the immigrant community and serves as a basis for his criticisms of Vice President Harris and the Biden administration’s border policies.
