Trump Stuck in Southern Border, Immigration Loop During Harris Debate: ‘They’re Destroying Our Country’

Former President Donald Trump‘s answers in Tuesday’s presidential debate didn’t always match the questions posed by the two ABC reporters. Instead, the GOP candidate seemed stuck in a cycle of drugs, murder and the illegal immigrants he sees as responsible for both.

“They have, and she has, destroyed our country with policies that are insane. Almost policies that you would say, ‘They must hate our country,'” Trump said, referring to the record high number of migrant crossings into the U.S. from Mexico under the Biden administration. While there has been a sharp drop in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border since President Trump Joe BidenThe June mandate to limit border crossings came into effect.

They invade our cities, eat our pets and smuggle drugs.

“Look at Springfield, Ohio, look at Aurora, Colorado. They’re taking over our cities, they’re taking over our buildings, they’re going in violently,” Trump said. “These are the people that they and Biden let into our country, and they’re destroying our country.”

Trump then referred to unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating residents’ pets: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats.”

ABC’s David Muir has fact-checked the pet-eating story and found no evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating people’s pets. But that didn’t stop Trump from discussing his favorite topic. He again blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the influx of immigrants, adding that a Harris administration would open the doors to even more immigrants.

“This will be one of the biggest mistakes in history that they’re going to allow,” Trump said. “And I think they did it because they thought it would get them votes, but it’s not worth it.”

Also read: Donald Trump lost debate to Kamala Harris, will lose ground in the polls, say traders in the poly market: will there be a rematch?

JD Vance weighs in

In remarks to ABC News after the debate, Ohio senator and Trump’s running mate said JD Vance more specific about the topic.

In response to a question about the economy, Vance immediately jumped to the southern border: “They (the American people) can’t afford housing and a lot of their children are dying of fentanyl overdoses because Kamala Harris has let the Mexican drug cartels take over the southern border,” Vance said.

Fact check: The vast majority of fentanyl comes through legal border crossings, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the people bringing it into the U.S. are American-born Americans. The data also shows that 80 percent of people prosecuted and convicted of federal drug trafficking offenses are U.S. citizens, according to Tara McGrath, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California.

“These are people who can cross the border but also stay under the radar,” McGrath said in a recent KPBS report.

McGrath rejected the idea that migrants and asylum seekers are the ones primarily bringing fentanyl into the country. “That narrative is a dangerous misconception because that’s not what we’re seeing,” she said.

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