Former United States president Donald Trump, during a speech at a Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, called for a “violent ” police crackdown on crime in the country, while Vice President Kamala Harris emphasised the need for immigration reform at a rally in Nevada.
The Republican presidential candidate, who also held a rally in Wisconsin, reiterated his dark, racially charged message about an America under siege from an “invasion” by migrants and criminals.
Trump, 78, cited isolated incidents of brazen daylight robberies in major cities and received a loud cheer when he advocated for police to become “extraordinarily rough” because “the liberal left won’t let them” do their job.
He stated that criminals “have to be taught” and this could be done “if you had one really violent day.”
Meanwhile, Harris, 59, addressed the “serious problems” of border security at a rally in Las Vegas later in the day, where she focused on the economy, health care and the need for immigration reform.
“As president, I will double the resources for the Department of Justice to go after the transnational cartels,” Harris said.
“We know Donald Trump won’t solve them. When he was president, he did nothing to fix our immigration system,” she added, calling for comprehensive reform but without offering details.
In Wisconsin, Trump spent much of his speech painting a picture of a failing US, inundated by what he said was the “massive number of savage criminal aliens that Kamala Harris has allowed to invade.”
He claimed “terrorists are pouring into our country” and cited “a big prison in the Congo, in Africa,” as the source of “a lot of people” last week.
Additionally, at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump also criticised the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies, baselessly calling for the vice president to be impeached
“She should be disqualified. She should resign the vice presidency and go home to California,” Trump said. “She should be impeached and prosecuted for her actions.”
Following record numbers of illegal border crossings earlier in President Joe Biden’s administration, a tightening of rules — to the consternation of immigrant rights and civil liberties groups — led to a plunge in numbers this year.
Crime, including murder, is also in steep decline nationwide, says the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Trump has long prided himself on his ability to coin insulting nicknames or slurs for his opponents and on Sunday, he repeated one that he aired on Saturday, calling Harris — a former top California prosecutor and US senator — “mentally impaired.”
“Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way,” Trump said to loud laughter from the crowd.
