Yesterday, President Donald Trump went into another racist tirade while browsing prototypes for his proposed border wall with Mexico during his stop in San Diego.
As he browsed an array of prototypes for potential border wall designs, Trump explained why the need for a wall is so important. "Getting over the top is easy," said Trump, implying that Mexican immigrants have some sort of magical wall-climbing skills.
"These are like professional mountain climbers," Trump added as he continued to assail Mexican immigrants. "They are incredible climbers. They can't climb some of these walls. Some of them they can. Those are the walls we're not using." Spewing hateful rhetoric about Mexicans isn't anything new for Trump, which probably goes without saying. In 2015, he kicked off his presidential campaign by referring to Mexicans as "rapists and criminals," and has continued to blame Mexico for most the crime and drug problems in the United States, though there is of course no data that supports such ridiculous conclusions.
Trump also once said that lots of "bad hombres" were coming into our country from "over there." Trump's inexplicable scapegoating of Mexicans and Mexican immigrants are also reflected in his hard-right immigration policy proposals, particularly his desire for a border wall between the United States and Mexico and his more recent call to execute drug dealers, whom he associates almost exclusively with Mexico. Again, it should be noted that drugs enter the United States from all over the world. Canada, for example, in particular is a source of many drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy, that flow into our country.
Nevertheless, Trump's comments are reminiscent of those made by Congressman Steve King (R-IA), who in 2013 said of Mexican immigrants:
"For everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that — they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert," King said. "Those people would be legalized with the same [DREAM] act."
In response, hundreds of cantaloupes were either sent to or dropped off at King's office. He was forced to apologize and was reprimanded by Speaker of the House John Boehner.
The Twitterverse wasted no time in excoriating Trump for yet another round of unnecessary and blatantly racist remarks about Mexican immigrants.
Some of the feedback was jocular and not too harsh.
"Trump's knowledge of Mexican culture is impressive."
Of course, one need not be a mountaineer to conquer Trump's wall.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, one of the international community's most outspoken Trump critics, also took a jab at the President in response to his comments.
Fox has repeatedly told the President, and those Americans who believe that Trump will somehow get our southern neighbor to pickup the tab for a border wall, that Mexico is never, ever going to pay for a border wall.
@joehas/X