Senate Democrat labels Trump immigration comments as ‘hateful, fascist rhetoric’

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) labeled former President Trump’s latest comments on immigration as “hateful, fascist” rhetoric Sunday.

CBS’s Margaret Brennan asked Coons about Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) opposition to some of the border policies proposed by members of the Democratic Party. Coons said while he understands Menendez’s “passion” for ensuring that the “immigration system is safe, legal and humane,” people need to be more focused on how much worse Trump’s immigration policies would be compared with President Biden’s.

He pointed to Trump’s recent comments from Saturday, where he said immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” as an example of what the former president’s policies would look like.

“But as I’ve often said, in talking about the campaign for ’24, President Biden needs to be compared not to the almighty, not to a perfect alternative, but to the actual alternative,” Coons said on “Face the Nation.” “And you just played … the stunning, hateful, fascist rhetoric of former President Trump when he’s talking about poisoning the blood of our nation.”

“The former president would bring in place not these modest changes to asylum policy, but radical and dramatic changes to immigration policy,” he continued. “We need to take seriously that there is a border security crisis, and we need to take responsible steps that reflect our values.”

Bipartisan Senate negotiations on the border have been taking place for weeks as Republicans have vowed to hold up additional aid to Ukraine and Israel without sufficient provisions on border security. Senate Republicans blocked a funding bill for Ukraine and Israel earlier this month because it did not include enough measures on the border.

Lawmakers and the White House have expressed optimism in recent days that they could be nearing a deal soon. Still, without congressional action, the Biden administration has warned that funding for Ukraine will run out by the end of the year.