Former President Donald Trump is not taking responsibility for the death of a recent border bill, but he is placing blame on President Joe Biden for what he’s calling “migrant crime.”
In fact, the migrant crisis is such a hot topic that Trump said in an afternoon interview with the Jeff Katz show on WRVA that he thinks it has put the Democratic stronghold of New York in play for him.
"So we're putting that and we're putting new Jersey as an example, which is a place that is not doing well. And I mean, all these places that are getting hit by migrants I think are in play. You want to know? I think New York is in play. Wow. Because New York has 400,000 migrants now taking over the parks, the playgrounds, taking over everything and causing tremendous crime. Yes. So I think New York is a place that we're going to give that a good shot, too."
Earlier this month, the Senate passed a bipartisan border package aimed at solving several issues with the country’s southern border, but House Republicans marked it dead on arrival.
The former president also shot down the bill in his interview, saying it wouldn’t resolve any issues and that it would be a “disaster for the Republican party.” Many have said Trump didn't want border legislation to pass because the border crisis under Biden is a rallying cry for his 2024 presidential campaign.
While Congress has still not passed any solution for the border, the number of migrants flowing into the country continues to grow.
In his earlier interview that day, this one with Jeff Katz on WRVA in Richmond -- note that he did two in one day -- Trump went back to discussing the previous election, claimed was stolen, and then went on to say that “it’s destroyed our country. Our country is in a state that I don’t think it’s ever been in migrants all over the place killing people.”
Trump then described a situation he saw in New York City, where a migrant was seen fist fighting with police officers, something the former president said he’d never seen before.
“We have a new category of crime now. It’s called migrant crime. All brought to you by Biden. It’s the worst president in the history of this country,” Trump said.
The former president once again invoked the name of former President Jimmy Carter, claiming he must be “extremely happy” by Biden’s presidency, inferring that Carter was not successful during his time in office.
He even went as far as to say that he doesn’t think Biden “knows he’s alive.”
When it comes to what he will do if he’s reelected this November, Trump says that drilling for oil, letting cops do their jobs, and securing the border are his top priorities. He added that his focus on security is attracting suburban women to his campaign.
“We bring the border back to where it was,” Trump said. “I had the safest border in history, and now we have the worst border in the history of the world. So, you know, we’re going to bring that back. That’ll be a big deal.”
In other moments, Trump weighed in on GOP opponent Nikki Haley, saying, "She's faded fast. She's really faded and shouldn't have gone. And now we go into Super Tuesday is going to be great. I think the smallest lead we have is like 55 points or something. So maybe more than that. So it's pretty good."
In his full remarks on migrants, he said, "Our country is in a state that it's, I don't think it's ever been in migrants all over the place killing people. I mean, they had a scene in New York where they were actually having fist fights. Migrants were having fist fights with cops. Now, I've seen cops get hit. I've seen cops get shot, and then they run away, you know? But I've never seen a guy standing in the middle of Madison Avenue having a fist fight where they literally have a fist fight with jabs. It's the craziest thing, we have. And then, of course, you have a lot worse than that. That beautiful young girl in Georgia and and so many others. We have a new category of crime now. It's called migrant crime. All brought to you by this Biden. It's, it's the worst president in the history of this country."
Trump is in Texas on Thursday, visiting with Gov. Gregg Abbott and his supporters in Eagle Pass, a common crossing spot for migrants. The former president is expected to speak with his supporters, while at the same time, President Biden is in Texas visiting the border for the first time since January 2023.
On the border and the wall he trumpeted as president, he said, "I'm going to be with a lot of people, going to be with the governor of Texas and senators and a lot of people. And we're just going to put more pressure on this guy. This guy wants to open borders. I don't think he wants it. I don't think he knows he's alive. He does. They want they want to have open borders. You know, I just 571 miles of wall. I had Mexico guarding our wall, literally. There. You know that I have military free of charge, by the way, 28,000 soldiers with the best border.
"And when he came in, all of that was dismantled. And he didn't finish sections of the wall because I built more wall than I said I was going to build 350 miles until 571. But then as you build it, you realize there are other areas where you need it. So it was all set to be erected. It was built and ready. They just had to erect it, put up the pieces, and they sold the pieces for $0.05 on the dollar. It's like unbelievable."