His comments on immigration Tuesday night, particularly on refugees from “third world” countries, were some of the most caustic. He called Somalia “about the worst country in the world” and mocked the “little turban” worn by Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant and naturalised US citizen.
“Throw her the hell out,” he said. “She does nothing but complain.”
He also confirmed a 2018 report that he called Haiti and African nations “shithole countries” during an Oval Office meeting with congressional leaders. At the time, the report prompted a major backlash and Trump said “this was not the language I used”.
On Tuesday night, he was explicit.
“We had a meeting and I said, ‘Why is it we only take people from shithole countries’, right?” he said. “Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden?”
“But we always take people from Somalia,” he continued. “Places that are a disaster – filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
These comments, along with yet another mention of impending “land strikes” on Venezuela, may edge out Trump’s economic message on a night when the economy was meant to take centre stage.
And Trump gave Democrats new ammunition to use when making the case that when it comes to affordability, the president is out of step with the American public.
For the first time in months the president was back on the road and in front of a friendly rally crowd in a key electoral battleground. And he has a way of feeding off, and learning from, the energy of his supporters.
In the end, though, Republican success will depend less on presidential speeches than on whether conditions improve for everyday Americans. And despite the charts and rhetorical pirouettes, that outcome is still very much in doubt.
