Supporters of President Trump (as well as some otherwise critical conservatives) have justifiably criticized the media for suggesting Trump was broadly referring to illegal immigrants as “animals” when in reality he was speaking more narrowly about MS-13 gang members. Indeed, the media should be reporting the full context of the remarks (as Jake Tapper did here).
Having acknowledged that, conservatives complaining today should recognize that reporting on context cuts both ways. And any discussion of Trump’s rhetoric on immigration should fairly point out that since the launch of his campaign, he has repeatedly used harsh language toward immigrants and implied that a large proportion of those trying to come into the country are violent criminals.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said during his 2016 presidential announcement. “They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
So basically, he started off his campaign by suggestion “some” Mexican immigrants were good, but that mainly they were violent criminals and drug dealers.
This was a constant theme of his campaign that has continued throughout his presidency.
“Think of a lottery,” Trump told Conservative Political Action Conference goers just this February. “You have a country. They put names in. You think they’re giving us their good people? Not too many of you people are going to be in the lottery.” He then pointed out to the CPAC crowd and continued. “So we pick out people. Then they turn out to be horrendous. And we don’t understand why.”
Trump went on to repeat a ballad he also recited at campaign rallies called, “The Snake.” It tells the story of a “tender-hearted woman” who rescues a snake only to have the snake bite and kill her.
This doesn’t even get into numerous other controversies about disputed private comments (such as the “shithole countries” uproar).
The non-economic rationale for Trump pursuing a more restrictive immigration policy (and a Muslim travel ban) is the the idea that Americans are a bunch of suckers whose loose immigration system lets in violent criminals and terrorists.
This isn’t to say that there are not violent immigrants. The point is that Trump has consistently tried to create the impression that a much larger proportion of immigrants are engaged in violent criminal activity than is reality. So he uses bombastic language that generates controversy and feeds into xenophobia, and his supporters can say, “Fake news! He was just talking about violent illegal immigrants!”
So yes, media who don’t report that Trump was referring to MS-13 when he employed the term “animals” deserve to be chastised. But let’s also not ignore Trump’s long record of portraying immigrants more broadly as essentially garbage people having a poisonous effect on our society.
