My comment was very factual and not misleading in the least. This election could mean literally life or death to many people or at the very least, severe effects on their lives, not to mention irreparable damage to our system of government. I have no patience for false equivalencies that serve to muddy the waters or minimize the risks we all face.
My comment was very factual and not misleading in the least. This election could mean literally life or death to many people or at the very least, severe effects on their lives, not to mention irreparable damage to our system of government. I have no patience for false equivalencies that serve to muddy the waters or minimize the risks we all face.
Trump did not call immigrants those things. Feel free to provide sources- that are directly him speaking- saying those things. Not the media twisting it to continue to make Trump look evil. I also have no patience for the lies and hatred being spread.
He didn't call immigrants vermin: "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country" (https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary) Of course, if he's NOT talking about immigrants, then he is talking about American citizens who should be free to disagree with the President.
Hi Emily. Thank you for sharing these links. I haven't enjoyed going down a rabbit hole like this since I was in college studying political science.
I went thru and read the links you provided above and can honestly see why people hate Trump. Articles like those, especially NPR, paint a completely different picture than what actually happened. Context matters, and that is skipped by these 'journalists'.
So I went directly to the source and watched or read the transcripts of Trump's speeches and comments. Much different story.
Regarding vermin comment - his actual speech which does not paint a picture of Hitler, as the articles you posted above believe.
it's about 24 mins in. He was talking about gang members.
"They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Link to the transcript for context. I do agree that the innocent immigrants shouldn't be grouped with criminals, there is more context there that is missing from the journalist.
“His actual speech does not paint a picture of Hitler”? Really, Trump didn’t pull out his “weave” to publicly paint a picture of Hitler? Even Trump isn’t that dumb. But he was dumb enough to use the exact language from Mein Kampf in his speech and extoll the virtues of Hitler in private to his four star general chief of staff. And speaking of painting, how is it even possible that you do not see how he uses the broad brush strokes of “criminal” to demonize the entire immigrant population? Please, go back down your rabbit hole and come back with all the actual quotes from Trump where he praises and shows appreciation for all of the hardworking, law abiding immigrants who help to make our country great.
I don’t think he has praised immigrants nor did I say he did. His rhetoric can be harsh and brass. He just isn’t Hitler at all which can be seen when watching him speak, not quoted out of context. Just sharing sources on how and why I have my opinions. As mentioned, I don’t look at cherry picked quotes- I look at what was said right before and after the quote. This is why most politicians stick to their teleprompter. Because their words would be taken out of context.
I think the difference here, Amy, might be that not everyone agrees that the context actually changes his message. I know that I am not unaware of the context, but I do really appreciate you finding those complete sources because it is important.
He does try to soften his own points, and I have seen him do that: he plays it off like he's being intentionally dramatic, or 'joking.' (At whose expense, exactly? What's the punchline there?)
Because he is still saying those words. Repeatedly. So much that I think it's important to see them all lined up together and understand that if that wasn't what he meant to say, or how he wants to sound, or if that isn't how he actually feels, then he'd have stopped a looong time ago. "They're just going to misinterpret me anyway!" is a shitty excuse when you are running to be the public face of an entire country (and if he's incapable of stopping himself that's really not much better than not *wanting* to stop himself.)
Of course he hasn’t said anything positive about the millions of immigrants who contribute so much to our country because the only way he can get votes is to make people angry and afraid and portray himself as a savior. You are just as likely to find quotes of Trump saying positive things about immigrants as you are to find quotes of Adolph Hitler saying positive things about Jewish people. There is no contextualizing away Trump’s despicable characterizations of immigrants. They aren’t off the cuff musings or meaningless campaign rhetoric. They are written into his speeches, are consistent with his lifelong attitudes regarding people of color and are a critical part of laying the foundation for the mass roundup and detention of millions of people, part and parcel of the age-old authoritarian playbook to demonize others and portray oneself as the only one who can save the rest. It is truly shameful that after our own experience placing Japanese Americans in internment camps and sacrificing so much to defeat the Nazi scourge in WWII that our country has come so close to allowing this dangerous playbook to be used again. But I am confident that there are more people who see what is in plain sight than there are people who can’t or won’t and our American ideals will prevail in the end.
You're really confident that people who don't like Trump have been "told what to think" by the media? That we don't "see the truth?" That's an incredibly dim and dismissive view of people who don't see things your way.
I'd be more confident that we are - all of us, however we're voting - well aware of who he is and we are just choosing to make different decisions with that information.
No- I think there are many people who don’t like Trump have very valid and educated reasons not to support him.
I meant it only in reference to comparing him to Hitler. Which was created by the media pushing that idea. When you dig into the actual speeches Trump delivers- it’s not accurate to compare him to Hitler.
Thank you for clarifying! We do disagree on whether the comparison is accurate - using Eco's definition of fascism, I'm not the only one who finds that MAGA ticks nearly every item on the list - but I do appreciate your continued willingness to engage on this.
Oh, I’m sorry. Did he not use the word “vermin” to describe immigrants but just to describe his political opponents? Here is the definition of “vermin”: pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops and property and infect livestock and people; an offensive word for people who are unpleasant and harmful to society.
Here are Trump’s exact quotes:
-June 28, 2015: “You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists, and they’re coming into this country.”
-Oct 7, 2021, speaking of immigrants: “ Many of those people will probably have AIDS, and they’re coming into our country. And we don’t do anything about it, we let everybody come in. ... It’s like a death wish for our country.”
-Dec 16, 2023, speaking of immigrants: “They’re poisoning the blood of our country.” (Exact same language Hitler used in Mein Kampf to describe the mixing of races.)
-June 19, 2018: “They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13.”
-April 2, 2024, speaking of immigrants: “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans. They’re animals.’”
-July 19, 2024: “We also have an illegal immigration crisis, and it’s taking place right now, as we sit here in this beautiful arena. It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land.”
-April 2, 2024, speaking of immigrants: “This is country-changing, it’s country-threatening, and it’s country-wrecking. They have wrecked our country.”
-May 29, 2024, speaking of Biden and immigrants: he "is letting millions of people from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers pour in.”
-Oct 24, 2024: “They unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence, we’re a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world.”
Infest? Disease? Invasion? Animals? Destruction? Does this sound like the dictionary definition of vermin to you? It absolutely defies belief that you’re voting for this man and you don’t know that he’s made the dehumanizing of immigrants the main thrust of his campaign. These are his exact words, not the media’s. He is the one spreading fear and hatred.
Again the quotes are taken out of context- which is exactly what the media does to make him look worse. Feel free to watch or read his actual speeches to get the entire context. Which is why I posted them.
Such a welcoming comment. I didn’t realize anyone was trying to change minds here. Just sharing thoughts and opinions. But this is a great example of why some people with opinions outside the majority don’t feel comfortable sharing.
There are a few people on here that will push out voices with different opinions, because they are either grilled, talked down to, or laughed at. This has already happened with a couple conservative voices on here.
Thankfully there are many more on here that are comfortable and respectful hearing different opinions.
No. It’s because when they finally attempt to gather the facts that supposedly support their opinions and share them with the rest of us these “facts” turn out to not be facts at all. And then they can’t handle it when that is pointed out. What do republicans call liberals? Snowflakes? Yeah, that’s it. But I have to hand it to you, this has happened to you over and over again and you keep bouncing back up to say thanks for sharing. You really have no choice, though because there is absolutely no rational reason to vote for a person like Trump. There is nothing remotely comfortable or respectful about him. But at least you’re no snowflake.
My comment was very factual and not misleading in the least. This election could mean literally life or death to many people or at the very least, severe effects on their lives, not to mention irreparable damage to our system of government. I have no patience for false equivalencies that serve to muddy the waters or minimize the risks we all face.
What did you mean by “disingenuous”?
Trump did not call immigrants those things. Feel free to provide sources- that are directly him speaking- saying those things. Not the media twisting it to continue to make Trump look evil. I also have no patience for the lies and hatred being spread.
He didn't call immigrants vermin: "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country" (https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary) Of course, if he's NOT talking about immigrants, then he is talking about American citizens who should be free to disagree with the President.
"We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in, we’re stopping a lot of them. And we’re taking people out of the country, you wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals." (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/17/611877563/during-roundtable-trump-calls-some-unauthorized-immigrants-animals AND https://lulac.org/news/pr/LULAC_Denounces_President_Trumps_Remarks_Calling_Undocumented_Immigrants_Animals/)
"They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." (https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article292632624.html)
Hi Emily. Thank you for sharing these links. I haven't enjoyed going down a rabbit hole like this since I was in college studying political science.
I went thru and read the links you provided above and can honestly see why people hate Trump. Articles like those, especially NPR, paint a completely different picture than what actually happened. Context matters, and that is skipped by these 'journalists'.
So I went directly to the source and watched or read the transcripts of Trump's speeches and comments. Much different story.
Regarding vermin comment - his actual speech which does not paint a picture of Hitler, as the articles you posted above believe.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?531752-1/president-trump-campaigns-claremont-hampshire
The comment on animals - which is just crazy to me how it was reported. Took a lot of digging to find the actual comments/transcript.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?445674-1/roundtable-santuary-cities-immigration-laws
it's about 24 mins in. He was talking about gang members.
"They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Link to the transcript for context. I do agree that the innocent immigrants shouldn't be grouped with criminals, there is more context there that is missing from the journalist.
https://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/
Thanks again - this confirmed my distrust in media and to always try and go to the source to get the truth, then form my opinion.
“His actual speech does not paint a picture of Hitler”? Really, Trump didn’t pull out his “weave” to publicly paint a picture of Hitler? Even Trump isn’t that dumb. But he was dumb enough to use the exact language from Mein Kampf in his speech and extoll the virtues of Hitler in private to his four star general chief of staff. And speaking of painting, how is it even possible that you do not see how he uses the broad brush strokes of “criminal” to demonize the entire immigrant population? Please, go back down your rabbit hole and come back with all the actual quotes from Trump where he praises and shows appreciation for all of the hardworking, law abiding immigrants who help to make our country great.
I don’t think he has praised immigrants nor did I say he did. His rhetoric can be harsh and brass. He just isn’t Hitler at all which can be seen when watching him speak, not quoted out of context. Just sharing sources on how and why I have my opinions. As mentioned, I don’t look at cherry picked quotes- I look at what was said right before and after the quote. This is why most politicians stick to their teleprompter. Because their words would be taken out of context.
I think the difference here, Amy, might be that not everyone agrees that the context actually changes his message. I know that I am not unaware of the context, but I do really appreciate you finding those complete sources because it is important.
He does try to soften his own points, and I have seen him do that: he plays it off like he's being intentionally dramatic, or 'joking.' (At whose expense, exactly? What's the punchline there?)
Because he is still saying those words. Repeatedly. So much that I think it's important to see them all lined up together and understand that if that wasn't what he meant to say, or how he wants to sound, or if that isn't how he actually feels, then he'd have stopped a looong time ago. "They're just going to misinterpret me anyway!" is a shitty excuse when you are running to be the public face of an entire country (and if he's incapable of stopping himself that's really not much better than not *wanting* to stop himself.)
I can understand that Emily. Thank you for sharing.
Of course he hasn’t said anything positive about the millions of immigrants who contribute so much to our country because the only way he can get votes is to make people angry and afraid and portray himself as a savior. You are just as likely to find quotes of Trump saying positive things about immigrants as you are to find quotes of Adolph Hitler saying positive things about Jewish people. There is no contextualizing away Trump’s despicable characterizations of immigrants. They aren’t off the cuff musings or meaningless campaign rhetoric. They are written into his speeches, are consistent with his lifelong attitudes regarding people of color and are a critical part of laying the foundation for the mass roundup and detention of millions of people, part and parcel of the age-old authoritarian playbook to demonize others and portray oneself as the only one who can save the rest. It is truly shameful that after our own experience placing Japanese Americans in internment camps and sacrificing so much to defeat the Nazi scourge in WWII that our country has come so close to allowing this dangerous playbook to be used again. But I am confident that there are more people who see what is in plain sight than there are people who can’t or won’t and our American ideals will prevail in the end.
I am equally confident that people see the truth (not what the media tells them to think).
You're really confident that people who don't like Trump have been "told what to think" by the media? That we don't "see the truth?" That's an incredibly dim and dismissive view of people who don't see things your way.
I'd be more confident that we are - all of us, however we're voting - well aware of who he is and we are just choosing to make different decisions with that information.
No- I think there are many people who don’t like Trump have very valid and educated reasons not to support him.
I meant it only in reference to comparing him to Hitler. Which was created by the media pushing that idea. When you dig into the actual speeches Trump delivers- it’s not accurate to compare him to Hitler.
Thank you for clarifying! We do disagree on whether the comparison is accurate - using Eco's definition of fascism, I'm not the only one who finds that MAGA ticks nearly every item on the list - but I do appreciate your continued willingness to engage on this.
Oh, I’m sorry. Did he not use the word “vermin” to describe immigrants but just to describe his political opponents? Here is the definition of “vermin”: pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops and property and infect livestock and people; an offensive word for people who are unpleasant and harmful to society.
Here are Trump’s exact quotes:
-June 28, 2015: “You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists, and they’re coming into this country.”
-Oct 7, 2021, speaking of immigrants: “ Many of those people will probably have AIDS, and they’re coming into our country. And we don’t do anything about it, we let everybody come in. ... It’s like a death wish for our country.”
-Dec 16, 2023, speaking of immigrants: “They’re poisoning the blood of our country.” (Exact same language Hitler used in Mein Kampf to describe the mixing of races.)
-June 19, 2018: “They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13.”
-April 2, 2024, speaking of immigrants: “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans. They’re animals.’”
-July 19, 2024: “We also have an illegal immigration crisis, and it’s taking place right now, as we sit here in this beautiful arena. It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land.”
-April 2, 2024, speaking of immigrants: “This is country-changing, it’s country-threatening, and it’s country-wrecking. They have wrecked our country.”
-May 29, 2024, speaking of Biden and immigrants: he "is letting millions of people from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers pour in.”
-Oct 24, 2024: “They unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence, we’re a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world.”
Infest? Disease? Invasion? Animals? Destruction? Does this sound like the dictionary definition of vermin to you? It absolutely defies belief that you’re voting for this man and you don’t know that he’s made the dehumanizing of immigrants the main thrust of his campaign. These are his exact words, not the media’s. He is the one spreading fear and hatred.
Again the quotes are taken out of context- which is exactly what the media does to make him look worse. Feel free to watch or read his actual speeches to get the entire context. Which is why I posted them.
Where did you post them?
Hi! It’s further up in response to Emily. Sometimes Substack is hard to navigate. At least for me. Lol
Such a welcoming comment. I didn’t realize anyone was trying to change minds here. Just sharing thoughts and opinions. But this is a great example of why some people with opinions outside the majority don’t feel comfortable sharing.
There are a few people on here that will push out voices with different opinions, because they are either grilled, talked down to, or laughed at. This has already happened with a couple conservative voices on here.
Thankfully there are many more on here that are comfortable and respectful hearing different opinions.
No. It’s because when they finally attempt to gather the facts that supposedly support their opinions and share them with the rest of us these “facts” turn out to not be facts at all. And then they can’t handle it when that is pointed out. What do republicans call liberals? Snowflakes? Yeah, that’s it. But I have to hand it to you, this has happened to you over and over again and you keep bouncing back up to say thanks for sharing. You really have no choice, though because there is absolutely no rational reason to vote for a person like Trump. There is nothing remotely comfortable or respectful about him. But at least you’re no snowflake.
Thanks for sharing your opinion, Kate.
Like clockwork!😄
Well we agree on that- I am also saddened by denial.
Agree again- with how we spend our energy. Wishing you the best on your path.