CBS News
Trump’s anti-immigrant, domestic “enemy” rhetoric in focus in final stretch to Election Day
With the 2024 campaign now approaching the final stretch, former President Donald Trump is drawing attention for rhetoric about immigrants — and going after his enemies.
It comes as the candidates are effectively tied nationally and in the battleground states, according to new polling from CBS News. The former president has also reiterated a warning made throughout his campaign of what he called the “enemy from within.”
At a campaign rally in the battleground state of Arizona on Sunday, Trump focused on what has become a defining issue of his campaign: immigration.
“When I win on Nov. 5, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins,” he said.
The former president pledged to hire 10,000 more border patrol agents, after earlier this year opposing a bipartisan bill that would have added 1,500 more personnel. And he ramped up his rhetoric on border politics more broadly, claiming that the U.S. is “now known all throughout the world as an occupied country.”
Trump also suggested using the military to go after the “enemy from within” on Election Day in an interview with Fox News that aired on Sunday, pointing to Democrats and those who oppose or have investigated him.
“We have some sick people, radical left lunatics,” Trump said Sunday. “And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
On Saturday, Trump said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff — who led the first impeachment against Trump and is now running for Senate — is among the “enemies from within” at a rally in Coachella, California, as he painted Schiff and other rivals as threats to the county. On Friday, he called Vice President Kamala Harris a “criminal” for her role in the Biden administration’s handling of immigration, a common attack line in recent months.
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Trump has repeatedly used the “threat from within” label throughout his campaign to label his political opponents, a categorization that’s drawn increased attention as Election Day nears.
In a November 2023 speech in New Hampshire, Trump used language that echoed Adolf Hitler and fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini when he pledged to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within,” Trump said in that speech. “Our threat is from within.”
In a December 2023 speech, also in New Hampshire, Trump said that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
On immigration, Sunday’s comments were also just the latest example of how Trump’s rhetoric has grown increasingly pointed, as he makes the issue his closing pitch of the 2024 campaign.
At a rally in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday, which has become a focal point of the former president’s pitch on border security, Trump cited the criticism he received for calling immigrants “rapists” in the last election, among a number of derogatory comments he’s made about people seeking to enter the U.S., while suggesting that the new landscape in the country requires a whole new vocabulary.
“Those statements are peanuts compared to what’s happening to our country,” Trump said. “These are the worst criminals in the world… These people are the most violent people on Earth.”
The former president said he would “rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” pledging to put “vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.”
“You can’t live with these people,” Trump said. “These are stone-cold killers. You could be walking down the street with your husband, you’ll both be dead.”
Trump said he hoped Colorado would vote in protest for “what they have done to the fabric of your culture.”
In recent rallies, Trump has called migrants “animals,” and said that they are coming to America from “dungeons of the Third World,” to “prey upon innocent American citizens.”
On Friday, Trump also pledged to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used during war times to round up or remove citizens of enemy countries from the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters have appeared to respond to the politicization of the border issue, which has been among the most defining for Republicans up and down the ballot.
Among Trump voters, 65% believe the Biden administration has tried to increase the number of migrant crossings at the southern border, according to CBS News polling. And among the individuals who say so, nearly three-quarters say it’s happening because the administration wants noncitizens to vote. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections, and illegal crossings at the southern border reached the lowest point of Mr. Biden’s presidency in September.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a shooting and fiery crash in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames near a funeral home, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area.
“There appears to be some type of incident that led to the vehicle crashing and catching on fire,” McCollough said. “Investigators are looking into the circumstances leading up to that.”
The name of the person killed and the manner of death was not released, nor were the conditions of the nine people injured. McCollough did not specify how many of the nine people injured were gunshot victims.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to the community, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested. There was no word on a possible motive.
“We will leave no stone unturned and we will dedicate every resource to this,” McCullough said. “We don’t generally see incidents like this in our community in Baltimore County. I assure you as your police chief that we will put all resources toward trying to clear this case.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
“This is an incident that is shocking, particularly for those of us in Baltimore County,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “These types of incidents are unheard of here, so it really shocks the conscience. However, we want our residents to know that we are, as always, fully committed to ensuring that both our fire and police departments have the full support and all the resources they need from the Baltimore County government to ensure that they bring this investigation to a conclusion.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Herschel Walker, the former football player whose 2022 Senate run was plagued by controversy, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
“Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad,” Trump said on social media Tuesday night.
Walker would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the role. The Senate has not confirmed a U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in over a decade. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Cassandra Butts for the role in 2014, but the Senate never even brought her nomination up for a vote, according to The Associated Press. She died in 2016.
Trump in his first term nominated Doug Manchester in 2017 for the ambassador role, but his nomination stalled for over two years. CBS News in 2019 also uncovered evidence of a possible pay-to-play scheme for the role. He eventually withdrew and Trump went on to nominate William Douglass in 2020. Douglass’ nomination was withdrawn by President Biden when he took office, and Mr. Biden in turn nominated Calvin Smyre, who has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Absent an official ambassador to the Bahamas, Kimberly Furnish currently serves in the role of Chargé d’Affaires.
Walker rose to national prominence as a star running back for the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the Heisman trophy in 1982. He spent his first few years of professional ball in the United States Football League before it folded, and then moved on to the NFL.
Walker reentered the national spotlight when, at Trump’s urging, he challenged Georgia’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock for his seat in 2022. The race featured several controversies, including two women claiming that Walker — who was running as an anti-abortion candidate — had paid for them to get abortions.
Walker denied both allegations.
In one instance, Walker admitted to writing a check for a woman who said he paid for her to get an abortion in 2009, but he said he hadn’t known what the money was for.
Another woman claimed Walker paid her to get an abortion while the two carried out a six-year relationship while he was married to another woman and playing in the NFL. During a news conference back in 2022, she said she couldn’t go through with the procedure when she went to get it herself, so Walker took her to a clinic in the Dallas area the next day and waited for her while she got the abortion.
“This was a lie a week ago and it is a lie today,” Walker said at the time following an interview the woman gave a week after the initial news conference.
Warnock would go on to win the election in a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote on election day.
Aaron Navarro and
contributed to this report.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area. The name of the person killed was not released, and the conditions of the nine people injured was unknown.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to community at this point, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
