Continuing with themes from the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump doubled down on GOP's positions on border security and undocumented immigration during a stop at the National Medal of Honor Museum.
Trump said that if Republicans do not retain control of both houses of Congress, it will reverse efforts to build a border wall and address what he described as a “disaster” wherein America was “being run over by people pouring across — dangerous people, too, in many cases — pouring across the border.”
During his visit to the museum, Trump toured the building and signed a new law establishing a monument in D.C. named after Hershel Williams, the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient who died in 2022.
Republicans, during the precedent-breaking, two-day midterm convention, have repeated decades-old rhetoric that American jobs and public safety are threatened by undocumented immigrants.
When touting lower crime rates, Trump claimed his administration has “removed over 5,000 criminals.”
“Many of them came through the open border policy of Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump said, using a political moniker to refer to former President Biden. “He had opened the border for the world to come in — let everybody come into our country. They emptied their jails. They emptied all of their mental institutions into our country.”
It’s not a new claim from Trump, who also based much of his 2016 presidential campaign on promises to reduce undocumented immigration and build a border wall — something he reiterated as a goal of his administration.
During the campaign for his first term, Trump claimed other countries were sending undocumented immigrants to cross the border illegally and that they weren’t “sending their best.”
The Marshall Project in a fact check of Trump’s claims found “no evidence that South American countries are intentionally freeing mentally ill and incarcerated people to infiltrate the U.S.”
A large-scale study at UC Irvine published in August found that neighborhoods where the population of undocumented immigrants grew witnessed stronger reductions in property crime and no significant changes in violent crime.
Immigration enforcement efforts under Trump’s second term has seen at least 57 people die in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and prolonged legal battles between some states and the federal government.
Trump isn’t the only Republican in town for the convention talking about border control and immigration enforcement. Political science experts told KERA ahead of the convention that it would likely be a major topic during the convention.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor and researcher at Southern Methodist University, said the convention is a sign Republicans feel threatened in several contests in the upcoming midterm elections, including for offices long held as Republican strongholds.
He called it “a move of concern.”
“Republicans can read the polls,” Jillson said. “They can read public opinion in regard to President Trump, in regard to the war in Iran, in regard to various of their candidates, like Ken Paxton here in Texas. And even Governor Abbott is running only four or five points ahead of his Democrat opponent who has far less money and name recognition than he does.”
The Texas race for Senate is one of those Jillson says has the right worried.
The Republican primary saw incumbent Sen. John Cornyn defeated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Now, Paxton faces state Rep. James Talarico. A Democrat, Talarico is seeking the Senate seat in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in decades. Despite the apparent disadvantage, a recent poll from the University of Texas and Texas Politics Project found Talarico leading Paxton 42% to 39%.
Trump mentioned that race specifically during his visit to the National Medal of Honor Museum.
He referred to Talarico as “Talafreako" while continuing both his endorsement and insults directed at Paxton — a repeat performance of a routine he engaged in while delivering a keynote speech Wednesday night, the first of the convention.
“We said last night, I said, ‘Ken, I don't want to embarrass you, but I don't agree with a lot of things. But you're the greatest Attorney General we've ever had,' and that alone should carry him,” Trump said. “I said, ‘I'm not sure if I like your look. I'm not sure if I like the way you dress. I don't like the way that you talk. But you're the greatest attorney general, so therefore that's the only thing that matters.’ ”
Trump waited until the last minute to endorse Paxton over Cornyn in the Republican primary and has since insulted the way he looks, dresses and talks while also describing him as the best attorney general in the country.
His address saw Trump take detours that have become a hallmark of his public remarks. He claimed to have restored dozens of degraded monuments in Washington D.C., recalled his “scuffle” with Ted Cruz during the 2016 Republican presidential primary and complimented some in the audience on their genetics.
Less than two minutes into his speech, Trump complimented National Medal of Honor Museum Board Chair Charlotte Jones, Jerry Jones’ daughter, on her genetics.
“She's got great genetics, I have to tell you. Great genetics,” Trump said. “She's great blood. I'm a big blood person. I believe in blood.”
Later in the speech, when recognizing Medal of Honor recipients, Trump complimented the genetics of the family of Williams.
Williams’ family attended the ceremony where Trump signed the new law that places the monument named after Williams on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. that intends to recognize Medal of Honor recipients.
Trump’s appearance ended with the museum presenting him with an award — an increasingly common gesture made by other organizations including FIFA.
Trump's address stuck to the overarching message of the Republican convention: if voters don’t keep a Republican majority in the House and Senate they’ll see Trump’s work undone.
“You put a Talafreako in, or you put any one of these people in, these people that don't know what the hell they're doing,” Trump said. “And even if they do, you know, some are very smart. They're radical left. They have crazy policies. Some are not smart at all. But he would be a disaster for this country.”
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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