Trump on Immigrants: These are Animals

During a rant yesterday, Donald Trump finally gave voice to the real animus of his supporters towards undocumented immigrants - and I would argue by extension gays, non-whites, non-Christians on the part of evangelicals - when he described them as animals.  Not fellow human, but animals, the implication being that they are deserving of mistreatment and even death.  When America comes to the point where it deliberately and willingly separates children and warehouses them like animals on military bases, we have reached the point of utter moral bankruptcy.  Yet John Kelly and Trump, and Jeff Sessions - a longtime racist - seemingly fully support such cruelty.  And the evangelicals continue to rally to Trump's standard.  Is it any wonder a third of Millennials want nothing to do with religion?  A piece in USA Today looks at Trump's attack on immigrants who, in his mind, all have brown skin, and other Trump lies and untruths.  Here are excerpts:

President Trump used extraordinarily harsh rhetoric to renew his call for stronger immigration laws Wednesday, calling undocumented immigrants "animals" and venting frustration at Mexican officials who he said "do nothing" to help the United States.

“We have people coming into the country or trying to come in, we're stopping a lot of them, but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are," Trump said. 

"These aren't people. These are animals."

Trump's comments came in a freewheeling, hour-long White House meeting with local California leaders opposed to so-called "sanctuary city" policies.

Trump's remarks were reminiscent of his first press conference as a presidential candidate in 2015, when he said the United States had become a "dumping ground" for people other countries didn't want.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said then. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

In other comments, Trump:

► Called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for warning undocumented immigrants of an upcoming sweep by immigration agents. "You talk about obstruction of justice, I would recommend that you look at obstruction of justice for the mayor, Jeff," the president said.

► Expressed frustration at his southern neighbor for not doing more to stop the flow of refugees and immigrants into the United States. "Mexico does nothing for us, they do nothing for us. Mexico talks, but they do nothing for us, especially at the border," he said. "Certainly don’t help us much on trade."

► Blamed Democrats for a policy of separating children from their parents when undocumented families enter the United States. 

"I know what you're going through with families is very tough," he told Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "But those are the bad laws the Democrats gave us. We have to break up families. The Democrats gave us that law. It's a horrible thing we have to break up families."

The attempt to blame Democrats was a huge lie - what else is new with Trump - given that the policy of separating children from parents only began after Trump took office.  As for the "devout Christians" supporting Trump, they should cease the hypocrisy of going to church and feigning piety.  I suspect Christ would find them repulsive and rightly so.