US President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his immigration rhetoric at a midterm rally in Texas, falsely accusing Democrats of “encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders and overwhelm our nation.”
With weeks to go before the midterm elections, Trump is seeking to drive Republican turnout with his hardline immigration policies. He cast the Election Day choice in stark terms before the Houston, Texas, rally for Republican US Senator Ted Cruz, saying that Democrats “have launched an assault on the sovereignty of our country.”
Trump spoke before a massive crowd on behalf of his former foe, who faces a strong challenge from Democratic US Representative Beto O’Rourke. When the two competed in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Trump would frequently deride his rival as “Lyin’ Ted,” but said in Texas that their relationship had come a long way.
Photo: AFP
“Nobody has helped me more with your tax cut, with your regulation,” Trump said, also attacking O’Rourke, as a “stone-cold phony.”
With the midterms drawing near, Trump has emphasized immigration, targeting a migrant caravan heading to the US southern border.
The hardline immigration rhetoric might be popular among rural Republicans who would play an outsized role in the top US Senate contests, but it might further alienate the moderate Republicans and women in the overwhelmingly suburban races that would decide the majority in the US House of Representatives.
On Monday night, Trump called the migrant caravan an “assault on our country” and suggested, without citing evidence, that “Democrats had something to do with it.”
“We need a wall built fast,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said the US would begin “cutting off, or substantially reducing” aid to three Central American nations because of the caravan.
Speaking before Trump took the stage in Houston, Cruz made clear that their conflict was behind them and that the two were working together. His biggest applause came when he predicted that “in 2020, Donald Trump will be overwhelmingly re-elected.”
Trump gleefully used his latest attack line against Democrats, saying: “Democrats produce mobs, Republicans produce jobs.”
Trump stressed tax cuts, the strong economy and the hurricane response in the state. He repeated his pledge for a new middle-income tax cut of about 10 percent, although he offered few details on the plan.
He said they would be “putting it in” next week, although the US Congress is not in session.
His Texas stop is part of a campaign blitz that is expected to last until Election Day.
Although political relationships tend to be fluid, Trump’s appearance for Cruz is notable, given that the two were bitter enemies during the 2016 primaries.
The White House views Cruz as a loyal vote for his agenda. Trump promised he would come to Texas after the US Senate race grew closer than expected, with O’Rourke out-fundraising Cruz and drawing large and enthusiastic crowds around the state.
Cruz, who is leading O’Rourke in the polls, said over the summer that he would welcome Trump’s support, although he has brushed off any suggestion that he would need Trump to win.
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