Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday (09/13/2024) that if he is elected president of the United States, his plan to carry out the “largest deportation (of immigrants) in the history of the country” will begin in Springfield, Ohio, bound for Venezuela.
“Here’s what you can say: We’re going to do mass deportations from Springfield. We’re going to get these people out. We’re going to take them back to Venezuela,” he said at a press conference at his golf club in Palos Verdes, California.
The tycoon also continued his attacks on “illegal Haitians” who he said are destroying the way of life of the area’s inhabitants.
The New York tycoon has been spreading the rumour for days that Haitians are eating the cats and dogs of local residents in Springfield.
These accusations have led to the Haitian community being singled out, even receiving bomb threats that have forced the closure of schools in the last two days and other official facilities. President Joe Biden himself called on Friday for such rhetoric to cease.
“American children are at the mercy of barbaric criminals,” the Republican candidate said.
Racist hoaxes
The former president, who has been repeatedly ranting against migrants all week, partly with lies, once again referred to the false and racist claim that Haitian migrants would steal dogs and cats to eat them, in the city of Springfield.
“We are going to organize mass expulsions” in this small Ohio town, promised the Republican billionaire, who pretended not to know that many of these migrants have a residence permit.
During his press conference, Trump accused Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival in the November election, without evidence, of illegally flying “some of the worst murderers and terrorists” into the country.
“Kamala is going to turn the United States into a Third World refugee camp. It already is to some extent,” he stressed during another very disorganized speech.
Kamala takes further lead in polls
The Republican candidate has placed immigration, one of the main concerns of voters according to polls, at the centre of his new bid for the White House. He did the same in 2016, when his campaign revolved around his proposed wall on the border with Mexico.
If he wins on November 5, he promises to combat illegal immigration with mass deportations.
US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, by five points in national voting intention, according to a poll conducted after Tuesday’s televised debate.
The gap between the two increased by one point, to five points, compared to the last Ipsos survey conducted at the end of August.