Trump, in latest attack on migrants, suggests they form a fight club and calls them 'nasty, mean'

Rachel Barber, USA TODAY

Updated June 23, 2024 at 1:38 p.m.·3 min read

Former President Donald Trump again used dehumanizing language about immigrants on Saturday, telling crowds at two separate venues that he has floated the idea of a migrant fight club to UFC President Dana White.

"I said, 'Dana, I have an idea. Why don't you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league of fighters. And then you have the champion of your league – these are the greatest fighters in the world – fight the champion of the migrants. I think the migrants’ guy might win, that’s how tough they are," Trump said at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gathering in Washington.

The presumptive Republican nominee's comments drew laughter and applause from the crowd at the conservative Christian conference. He repeated them later in the day at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.

Trump added that White didn't like the proposal, but he said it was "not the worst idea I've ever had," calling migrants to the United States "nasty, mean" and "tough people." White confirmed Trump's comments at a news conference in Saudi Arabia Saturday.

"It was a joke. I saw everybody going crazy online. But yeah, he did say it," White said.

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign was quick to condemn Trump's comments. His remarks come after Biden issued an executive order to turn migrants who enter the country illegally away when the number of border crossings is high

"Fitting that convicted felon Donald Trump spent his time at a religious conference threatening to round up Latinos, bragging about ripping away Americans’ freedoms, and promising to be even more extreme if he regains power,” spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

Kevin Munoz, a senior spokesperson for the Biden campaign, also reacted to Trump's comments in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying that the former president "has spent his entire political career attacking Latinos."

More: Donald Trump will get the last statement, and Joe Biden will pick his podium for first 2024 debate

Immigration and the southern border has long been a signature focus for the former president. Trump has said he plans to deport millions of migrants from the country if he's elected to a second term, a move that would likely prompt immediate legal battles and road blocks from Democrats in Congress. The former president last week did say that if elected, he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges.

However, Trump's comments Saturday are the latest in a longstanding pattern of remarks demeaning undocumented immigrants.

On the campaign trial, he told a New Hampshire crowd that immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally are "poisoning the blood of our country," a comment Vice President Kamala Harris said was "rightly" compared to rhetoric from dictators such as Adolf Hitler. A 2019 USA Today analysis of more than five dozen of the former president's rallies found he had used words like 'invasion' and 'killer' to discuss immigrants at rallies 500 times.

Trump's comments Saturday prompted criticism online, including from Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty and Douglas Rivlin, a senior communications director for America's Voice, an immigration rights organization.

No Lions? Set up a migrant league of fighters & have your regular league of fighters, & then you have the champion of your league — fight the champion of the migrants. Trump spreads violent rhetoric by suggesting migrants should fight for sport https://t.co/5IN7LZVEDd
— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) June 23, 2024

Trump wasn't terrified of undocumented Latino immigrants when he used to hire and under pay them at his golf clubs and hotels.

Trump described migrants with the dehumanizing terms, saying they were “tough,” “come from prisons” and are “nasty, mean.” https://t.co/ZKjcJ73ton
— Douglas Rivlin 🇺🇲 (@douglasrivlin) June 23, 2024

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump proposes migrant fighting league as he lashes out at immigrants

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