Despite Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, Donald Trump Says, “I’m Not a Student of Hitler”

Once again, former President Donald Trump stood by his assertion that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood,' arguing that his words were not racist and rejecting any similarities to Adolf Hitler's speech. The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 claimed to know 'nothing about Hitler' in an interview with conservative radio presenter Hugh Hewitt on Friday.

As reported by The Hill, Trump said, "When you look at it, if you look at what’s coming in, we have from all over the world — not one group — they’re coming in from Asia, from Africa, from South America; they’re coming from all over the world. They’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. They’re terrorists, absolutely, that’s poisoning our country, that’s poisoning the blood of our country."

The real estate mogul further added, "They have people coming in — we don’t even know what the language is that they speak. We have nobody that speaks the language, and they’re loading up our classes, we’re loading up our classes, our school classes with children that don’t speak the language, that don’t speak our language. And nobody knows what’s going on. No, we are poisoning our country; we’re poisoning the blood of our country."

In the past, Trump has often complimented despotic rulers, such as Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China, and Viktor Orban of Hungary. Hewitt questioned Trump on his commitment to a peaceful handover of power, pointing out both his praise for such leaders and his remarks that some likened to those made by Hitler. Trump claimed to have followed through on his pledge in 2020: "Of course. And I did that this time." But in federal court and in Fulton County, Trump has been charged with 91 felonies, many of which are related to his purported efforts to void the results of the 2020 election and his role in the ensuing Capitol riots on January 6. Trump has denied any misconduct.

Hewitt also spoke to the parallels opponents have drawn between Trump's statements and Hitler's assertions in Mein Kampf that Jews were contaminating German blood. Trump refuted claims that his remarks about 'poisoning the blood' were meant to incite racism, citing his high approval ratings among African American and Hispanic voters. Regarding Hitler's comparisons, he said, "First of all, I know nothing about Hitler. I’m not a student of Hitler. I never read his works. They say that he said something about blood, he didn’t say it the way I said it either, by the way, it’s a very different kind of a statement."

Leaders on all sides of the political spectrum have strongly criticized Trump for his bigoted remarks. Vice President Kamala Harris remarked that the words 'rightly' evoked Hitler. She said in an interview with MSNBC, "It is language that is meant to divide. It is language that I think people have rightly found similar to the language of Hitler. I think it’s just critically important that we remind each other, including our children, that the true measure of the strength of a leader is based not on who they beat down, but who they lift up."