In the final days of the election, Donald Trump is escalating his dark rhetoric about the state of the country and delivering increasingly bitter, angry tirades against his political opponents.
In a speech in Arizona on Thursday, Trump called the United States a “garbage can for the world” as he railed against undocumented migrants and bashed the Biden administration’s border policies.
“They unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence,” Trump told the crowd. (National data does not support Trump’s repeated claims that undocumented migrants are causing a surge in violent crime.)
“We’re a dumping ground,” he continued. “We’re like a garbage can for the world. First time I’ve ever said ‘garbage can.’ But you know what? It’s a very accurate description.”
His attacks on his political opponents have become increasingly noxious.
Trump often resorts to crude remarks when offering his grim portrayal of the United States and delivering dire warnings about the state of the country if he does not win the election. But with Election Day less than two weeks away, and with Trump and Kamala Harris remaining neck and neck in the polls, the Republican nominee’s rhetoric has grown darker and more menacing, and his attacks on his political opponents have become increasingly noxious.
Trump has stepped up his personal criticism of Harris while speaking to supporters in recent weeks, insulting her intelligence and her character. He took that a step further at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, referring to her as a “s— vice president“ to raucous cheers. Then on Tuesday in North Carolina, he called her a “lunatic” and baselessly suggested that Harris had an alcohol or drug problem.
He has also intensified his threat to punish his enemies, falsely accusing Democrats of engaging in “rampant Cheating and Skullduggery” in the 2020 election and vowing to prosecute anyone who denies him a victory in November.
“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump railed in a post on Truth Social. “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”