‘A garbage can for the world’: Donald Trump likens immigrants to trash in dehumanizing anti-immigration statement

Former president Donald Trump intensified his anti-immigration rhetoric and wild fabrications about immigrants at campaign rallies in Arizona and Texas, declaring the United States “a garbage can for the world” and “a dumping ground” for immigrants.

Trump debuted this inflammatory comparison during a rally in Tempe, Arizona, then doubled down on the statement hours later in Austin, Texas. (He mentioned it again in Pennsylvania because he clearly believes it slaps somehow.) “First time I’ve ever said garbage can. But you know what? It’s a very accurate description,” Trump told supporters.

Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Trump’s characterization during her Houston campaign stop, which included Beyoncé stumping, very capably, on Harris’ behalf. “This is someone who is a former president of the United States, who has a bully pulpit. And this is how he uses it?” Harris questioned, highlighting the unusual gravity of a former president using such dehumanizing and racist language out in the open. Forget the “shining city upon a hill” language Reagan once used. This is how Trump truly sees America.

“The president of the United States should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are,” Harris added, contrasting Trump’s rhetoric with her own infinitely more coherent vision of presidential leadership.

“It’s just another example of how he really belittles our country,” Harris concluded. It’s also another example of his zone-flooding regarding how and (more importantly) why immigrants arrive in our country. He offers no context as to exactly why people from countries with fractured governments and infrastructures would want to locate better environments for themselves and their children.

Trump’s latest inflammatory statements run in lock-step with his campaign’s tight focus on immigration as a central issue, ensuring he converts immigrants into easy scapegoats as we head into the home stretch of the presidential race. Aside from revenge, the former president has shortlisted border security and immigration enforcement—which he had no real success with during his first term—as cornerstones of his campaign, promising aggressive enforcement measures if elected to a second term.