Trump's Sharp Tongue Dares to Use Religious and Racial Discrimination... Aiming to Rally Conservatives?

As consecutive forecasts emerge that the Republican Party will struggle in next month's U.S. midterm elections, U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric is becoming increasingly harsh.

A prime example is the noticeable increase in discriminatory or mocking remarks targeting Democratic candidates of immigrant backgrounds regarding their countries of origin and religion.

According to U.S. media outlets like CNN on the 13th (local time), President Trump made discriminatory comments regarding the name of Abdul El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American Democratic candidate running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan.

During a campaign rally in Tennessee on the 10th, President Trump brought up El-Sayed, saying, "I call him Muhammad. Someone said, 'His name is not Muhammad,' but I'm the president so I can call him whatever I want."

Then, at a rally in Ohio on the 12th, Trump mentioned El-Sayed again, claiming, "He is a jihadist."

El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American physician, is a politician who has previously served as the health director for the city of Detroit and run for governor of Michigan. He is considered a progressive figure within the Democratic Party.

Although of Egyptian descent, he was born and raised in Detroit and studied at prestigious institutions including Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the University of Oxford.

However, President Trump and the Republican Party have focused their attacks on El-Sayed, highlighting his criticism that "Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip."

President Trump has also intensified his rhetoric against Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born politician who has frequently clashed with him.

At a recent rally in Ohio, targeting Representative Omar, he stated, "She is a disaster. She comes from a country with no laws, no police, no military, just people shooting at each other," adding, "They come to America and try to lecture us on how to run our country. We are not going to tolerate this."

Representative Omar, an immigrant who fled the civil war in Somalia, has strongly criticized President Trump, opposing the Trump administration's border wall construction and anti-migrant policies, while advocating for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which actively detains and deports undocumented immigrants.

President Trump and some Republican lawmakers have even raised suspicions regarding Representative Omar's U.S. immigration, alleging she married her biological brother, and have demanded the revocation of her citizenship and deportation, though Representative Omar has denied the allegations.

Pressure from investigative authorities has also intensified, with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security executing a search warrant at Representative Omar's Washington, D.C., home on the 12th.

The search was reportedly part of an investigation related to immigration-related offenses.

Representative Omar has pushed back, calling it political repression.

In an online article, CNN analyzed that President Trump's anti-immigrant remarks appear aimed at his core conservative base, noting that these core supporters must turn out in large numbers if the Republican Party is to avoid a crushing defeat in the midterm elections.

The outlet criticized, "Trump's rhetoric is not particularly surprising given the radical remarks he showed during the presidential campaign, but it remains shocking that such blatant racist remarks are coming out."

Even considering President Trump's usual communication style, the continuation of such harsh and aggressive, controversial remarks appears to stem from the Republican Party's very bleak electoral prospects.

According to a recent aggregation of various polls by CNN, President Trump's job approval rating stands at a mere 33%.

The polls show that a majority of Americans hold President Trump's policy decisions responsible for their worsening economic hardship driven by rising prices for groceries, housing, gasoline, and diesel.

CNN pointed out, "The very fact that in the final stretch of the campaign, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are rushing off to so-called 'red states'—Republican strongholds where the GOP initially believed they wouldn't even need to campaign—amply demonstrates the predicament the Republican Party currently faces."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.