Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman from El Paso, compared the Trump administration to Nazi Germany and lashed out at the news media for not “connecting the dots” on Trump’s racist rhetoric and America’s mass shootings.
Said O’Rourke on Morning Joe Monday: “The president has not been shy, he’s not been saying this behind closed doors. This is out in the open. All people of one religion, inherently defective and should be banned from the shores of this country. The only modern Western democracy that I can think of that has said anything close to this is the Third Reich, Nazi Germany. Talking about human beings as though they are animals, making them sub-human, to make it OK to put their kids in cages. We’ve lost seven children in our custody over the last year in this, the wealthiest, the most powerful country on the face of the planet. Saying that he wants more immigrants like those from Nordic countries, the whitest places on the face of the planet. This president, his open racism is also an invitation to violence. We’ve seen a rise in hate crimes, every single one of the last three years. … Anyone who is surprised is part of this problem right now, including members of the media who ask, ‘Hey Beto, do you think the President is racist?’ Well Jesus Christ, of course he’s racist. He’s been racist since day one.”
In a separate interview, O’Rourke exploded after a reporter asked him if there is anything the president can do to make things better after the mass shootings.
“What do you think? You know the sh*t that he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the f**k? It’s these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what he’s been doing in this country. He’s not tolerating racism, he’s promoting racism. He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country. So, um, you know, I just— I don’t know what kind of question that is.”
