Former President Donald Trump went out of his way on the campaign trail this week to deny that he had ever read “Mein Kampf” — the book by Adolf Hitler (translation: My Struggle or My Battle) in which the monstrous German laid out many of his anti-semitic and Aryan supremacy beliefs, beliefs that fueled the Holocaust.
Trump, who has spent recent speeches parroting Adolf Hitler nearly word-for-word, claims he hasn’t read Mein Kampf pic.twitter.com/DElmOaV4wP
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) December 20, 2023
Trump brought up the book because he had borrowed a phrase from it, saying that unchecked immigration into the U.S. was “poisoning the blood of our country.” The phrasing sent shockwaves into the body politic, where it followed up Trump’s pledge (in jest?) to be a “dictator on day one” if elected again.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants, decried Trump’s words, saying that she had been taught long ago that there “are some people who will use their voice in a way that is meant to dehumanize.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said: “We have seen this kind of toxic rhetoric inspire real-world acts of violence…It should have no place in our politics, period. America is stronger as a pluralistic society that welcomes immigrants.”
Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) turned the bitter phrase back on its latest user, saying that it was not immigrants who are poisoning the blood of the country, but Trump himself with his pernicious rhetoric.
With the exception of Alaska Natives and Native Peoples, most of us are daughters and sons of immigrants who came to this country to build a better life for themselves and their families. Legal immigration from people across the world is woven into the fabric of American…
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) December 20, 2023
“Legal immigration from people across the world is woven into the fabric of American exceptionalism,” Murkowski writes, “and comments from the former president couldn’t be further from the truth. This is more hateful, harmful rhetoric from Donald Trump that is poisoning our country.”
