Trump vows to keep ‘communists and markers’ out of the US in latest gaffe
Donald Trump falsified his words during his speech at his biggest campaign event on Friday in Iowa.
The former president appeared at Council Bluffs in the western part of the state, where the first election convention has been held for a little over five months.
Speaking on immigration, Mr Trump delivered an electoral pledge to bar leftist ideologues from entering the country when he inadvertently labeled them “communists and markers” rather than Marxists.
He stumbled a little in his haste to get to his next point – what to do about those on the left already in the country – and then named a number of prominent elected Democrats with whom he has frequently clashed.
The former president seemed to get his rhythm back, then returned to his original point on immigration, saying he would “deny them access to our cunt”.
Mr Trump has also said that he will abolish the birthright to citizenship of those in the US illegally and take a much tougher stance on the southern border.
Both the past and current presidents are of advanced age – Mr Trump is 77 and President Joe Biden is 80 – and such blunders and blunders are common in the campaign and in office.
His previous gaffes included Mr Trump once referring to Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, as “Tim Apple”; seemed to encourage people to treat Covid by injecting themselves with bleach; and urged someone to look at the “oranges” of the Russian collusion investigation.
For his part, some of Mr. Biden’s slips of the tongue can be attributed to struggling with a stutter, but he’s forgotten words and names, twice in the space of 24 hours has referred to the war in Ukraine as the war in Iraq, and recently broke up remarks , saying curiously, “God save the Queen.”
Mr Trump is often overcome by his temper and enthusiasm in front of audiences, jumping from topic to topic even when making prepared remarks, and insulting his political rivals.
Elsewhere in his speech on Friday, the former president also attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an enemy of corn-based ethanol.
He criticized his top Republican presidential nominee for 2024 for voting as a member of Congress against the federal mandate for the fuel additive that Iowa leads the state in manufacturing.
Mr. Trump dubbed himself “the most farmer-friendly president you’ve ever had” at the event, aiming to highlight his administration’s agricultural record and tout his oversight of farmer clawbacks. “I fought for Iowa ethanol like no other president in history,” he said.
On a rainy Friday, Trump addressed more than 1,000 Iowa and Nebraskan residents crammed into the performance hall at the Mid-America Center, and hundreds more huddled under umbrellas in a line outside the arena.
As a Florida congressman, Mr. DeSantis was a 2017 co-sponsor of a bill that would have done away with the renewable fuel standard outright, a position consistent with financial conservatives who see such mandates as government abuse.
“Iowa also needs to know that Ron DeSanctus totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol in general,” Trump said, intentionally mispronouncing his rival’s name as he routinely does. “He’s been fighting it for years. Don’t forget that as a congressman he voted against and fought for years to eliminate every single job.”
DeSantis’ campaign described the attack as a distortion. “As president, Gov. Ron DeSantis will be an advocate for farmers and will use every tool available to open up new markets,” campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin said in an emailed statement.
With reporting from the Associated Press
