“Has anybody heard of Dana White?” Trump asked, speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Path to the Majority conference in Washington. “…I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea. Let’s have a league of immigrant fighters. And let’s have a league of regular fighters. And we’ll have the champions of that league, the best fighters in the world, fight the immigrant champions.’ I think the immigrant guy might win. That’s how tough they are. Trump didn’t really like the idea.”
The remarks were part of a broader pattern by Trump of using dehumanizing language when discussing immigration, which during the election included broadly portraying immigrants as violent criminals and saying they were “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Trump spoke for about an hour and a half at a conference hosted by an evangelical group founded by longtime conservative strategist Ralph Reed. He touched on issues the group advocates for, such as government restrictions on abortion, but the topics he addressed were much closer to those he covered at his campaign rallies, including immigration and election denial.
In his speech, the former president continued to claim that illegal immigrants are violent criminals who come from “prisons and psychiatric hospitals.” He also spoke about the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in February. Police believe Riley’s killer is Jose Ibarra. Immigration authorities say Ibarra is a man who illegally crossed the U.S. border in 2022. Ibarra has been in custody since the day after Riley’s body was discovered, and pleaded not guilty in May.
Trump reiterated his promise to “launch the largest deportation operation in American history” when he returns to the White House, and warned that illegal immigrants were “just getting used to it” but “they’re going to start coming at us very hard.”
At roughly the same time, Trump also acknowledged the presence of the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman killed while on the run last year, at Temple University in Philadelphia, and called Victor Martinez Hernandez, the Salvadoran man charged with murder, a “beast.”
Most people apprehended at the southern border have no criminal records, according to federal data, and experts say most evidence shows the presence of illegal immigrants in the country does not lead to increased crime.
“It is fitting that a convicted Donald Trump threatened to round up Hispanics at a religious conference, bragged about taking away Americans’ freedoms and promised to become even more extreme if he regains power,” said Sarafina Chitica, a spokeswoman for the Biden campaign. President Trump said in a statement after speaking in Washington.
A UFC spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Steven Chung, communications director for the Trump campaign, denied concerns about the comparison being derogatory to immigrants.
“These elitists, like those who foolishly believe martial arts is human cockfighting, display a lack of understanding of the incredible science behind mixed martial arts,” Chan said in a statement.
During a campaign stop at a cheesesteak restaurant in South Philadelphia, Trump greeted fans and told reporters he had not yet told himself he had chosen a running mate. Trump has often hinted at a vice presidential choice, saying he would announce it at the party convention. In January, he said he had already made a choice, but campaign staff walked that back. The campaign is vetting multiple candidates.
President Trump touched on the issue in a speech to the anti-abortion Faith and Freedom Coalition, where he cited Supreme Court decisions that have overturned abortion bans. Roe v. WadeMonday marks the second anniversary of that ruling.
“We’ve moved abortion back from the federal government to the states,” he said, before falsely claiming that “every legal scholar” and “almost every Democrat” wants abortion. egg He cited issues the group advocates for, such as the appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices who helped subvert the Constitution. egg. He also said he believes there should be exceptions to abortion for “the life of the mother, rape and incest.”
“You have to follow your heart” on the issue, Trump said, “but you also have to remember you have to win an election.”
At various points in the speech, Trump urged the audience to vote in November – “Christians, vote!” – and continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election was “rigged.”
“If I knew there was no corruption, if I knew everything was done with honor and integrity as it should be, I would stop campaigning,” he said.
Trump also claimed that popular evangelist Franklin Graham wrote him a letter advising him not to use foul language. “I said to myself, ‘He’s wrong on that,'” Trump said, adding that while he tries to cut down on his swearing, “sometimes. [other] There are no words to describe it.”
Trump alleged that this was political persecution of Christians by the Biden administration, and pointed to a recent two-year prison sentence by a federal judge appointed by Clinton for an anti-abortion activist whose lawyers said was in failing health. The activist, Paula “Paulette” Harlow, was among a group accused of violating federal law by taking part in demonstrations that blocked access to abortion clinics. Trump also said he was the victim of the attack.
“We stood up to communists, we stood up to Marxists, we stood up to fascists, we defended religious freedom like no other president has ever done,” Trump said, “and I bear my scars all over my body. … I bear my scars more than any president has ever carried.”
Arnsdorf reported from Philadelphia.
