Trump warns US troops will shoot at migrants if they throw rocks

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his anti-immigrant rhetoric on Thursday ahead of next week’s mid-term elections, warning that the 15,000 U.S troops he is deploying at the country’s southern border could shoot at the migrant caravan if they threw rocks at soldiers as they reportedly did when they crossed into Mexico from Central America.

Although the rag-tag caravan of impoverished and unarmed migrants is nearly a thousand kilometers away from the US border in Mexico’s deep south and could take weeks to reach the US border on foot, Trump raised the specter of an imminent and violent “invasion” in what many observers saw as a crude attempt to rally his nativist supporters.

“They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I say, consider it a rifle,” Trump said in remarks at the White House, where he was expected to speak about immigration policy but began throwing out rhetorical red meat to his supporters with what was widely seen as scaremongering.

Cable networks except Fox cut away from Trump’s remarks as it became evident that he was flagrantly demonizing a minor spectacle to drive his supporters to the polls, with most surveys showing the Republican Party losing control of the House of Representatives.

“Our military is being mobilized at the Southern Border. Many more troops coming. We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and gang members, into the U.S. Our Border is sacred, must come in legally. TURN AROUND!” the U.S President tweeted earlier, even as he was mocked for scaremongering to drum up support ahead of elections and vilifying desperately poor people, many of them women and children, escaping poverty and violence in their home country.


“It’s like an invasion. These are pretty tough people, and I don’t want them in our country. They’re throwing rocks viciously and violently,” Trump said, declaring, “This isn’t an innocent group of people, large number of people who are tough.” Earlier in the week, the U.S President had claimed the migrant caravan had claimed there were terrorists, unknown Middle-Easterners and MS-13 gang members in the caravan, even while admitting he had no proof.


But the act of sending 15,000 U.S troops to face a weary caravan of less than 5000 migrants, a number that is dwindling all the time as the foot-weary drop out, invited ridicule, as did the President’s claim that he was intent on protecting American women from what he perceives as marauding hordes.


Trump’s remarks that “Women don’t want them in our country. Women want security,” invited withering response on Twitter, among them: “Trump, who openly bragged about committing sexual assault, is worried about women’s security?” and “Thanks, President Grabbyhands.”


Among the American commentariat, there was little doubt that Trump’s remarks over the past week on the migrant caravan and other immigration issue constituted dog whistle politics aimed at rallying his red base. Even Fox News, which serves as a bullhorn for the President’s thinly-disguised racist broadsides, carried an oped saying “Trump should fix our immigration system – Not spread fear of immigrants.”


Latest polls show Democrats flipping up to 40 seats to take control of the House, while winning the Senate looks a more difficult ask.

Trump has already begun laying out excuses for an electoral loss, saying his party lost the momentum because of the two terrorists attacks – the crude bombs sent to many Democratic and liberal eminences and the murderous attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh.

“We did have two maniacs stop a momentum that was incredible, because for seven days nobody talked about the elections. It stopped a tremendous momentum,” he said at the rally in Missouri on Thursday, adding, “We have to take care of our people, and we don’t care about momentum when it comes to a disgrace like just happened to our country. But it did nevertheless stop a certain momentum, and now the momentum is picking up.”

But in a major boost to the President, the latest jobs report showed continued economic uptick,, with Wages up 3.1 per cent, 250,000 new jobs and 48-year low unemployment. “These are incredible numbers. Keep it going, Vote Republican!' Trump tweeted exultantly.


More than 25 million ballots have already been cast in early voting in an election that is expected to see close to a 50 per cent turnout, almost unsurpassed in mid-term polls in recent years.