Donald Trump is being called out for adopting language that Adolf Hitler used. But according to Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, it’s no biggie ― the former president just wants to “keep America, America.”
Trump set off a firestorm over the weekend after he told supporters at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Saturday that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
The Biden campaign said Trump had “parroted Adolf Hitler,” as did many media figures. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump’s rival in the 2024 presidential race, called Trump “disgusting” and said he “is dog-whistling to Americans.” An authoritarian expert labeled it “fascist rhetoric.”
On Monday morning’s “Fox & Friends,” Kilmeade offered a different interpretation, Mediaite first reported.
“They didn’t like his rhetoric. He was talking about the border. He was talking about people coming from other countries, coming from prisons,” he said.
Kilmeade accused the media of fixating on the word “poison,” and provided his own translation for Trump’s remarks.
“He’s just trying to say, ‘We want to keep America, America,’” he said.
“We want to build up the border and find out who’s coming in and out,” he added. “And they tried to say though, this language was the problem.”
With or without the “poisoning” phrase, Trump’s comments Sunday were alarmingly xenophobic. He suggested people are “pouring” into the U.S. from “all over the world,” bringing crime and terrorism.
Critics fixated on the “poisoning the blood” element in particular because that terminology was used by Hitler in his manifesto, “Mein Kampf,” to describe what he claimed was the impurity of Jews and immigrants.
Trump has leaned more and more into authoritarian tendencies as he seeks another term in the White House. In November, he compared political foes to “vermin,” another term favored by Nazis. And he straight-out admitted earlier this month he planned to act like a dictator if he wins the election — but only on “day one.”