Former president Donald Trump defended his comments this week about migrants crossing the United States southern border, in which referred to it as “poisoning the blood” the country. Trump repeated this claim at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, which is sparking widespread criticism.
Jon Lewis is a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University. He studies domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the United States and federal responses to the threat. Lewis is the co-author of two major Program reports on the events of January 6th, as well as numerous long form publications on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their role in the events of January 6th. In addition, Lewis manages the Program's Capitol Hill Siege database, which is a public tracker for all federal cases stemming from J6 participation.
Lewis can discuss how harmful it is that this language is used, how this rhetoric is dehumanizing and creates the conditions for individuals to find the justification for violence, and how it emboldens extremists.
“While unsurprising, this fascist, nativist rhetoric which accuses immigrants of “poisoning the blood” of our country is nonetheless deeply concerning. The white supremacist and antisemitic conspiracies and narratives that underpin this rhetoric, including the Great Replacement Theory and the concept of "white genocide" have become increasingly mainstreamed in recent years,” Lewis says. “The use of this dehumanizing rhetoric by a presidential candidate against immigrants is likely to serve as justification for lone actors seeking to commit violence against their perceived enemies in the culture war.”
Lewis was also quoted in an Associated Press piece on Trump’s remarks, which can be found here.
If you would like to speak to Jon Lewis, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
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