Trump’s Rhetoric on Immigration Echoes Eugenics and Racial Superiority.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has consistently criticized immigrants who enter the United States illegally, often using inflammatory language to emphasize what he describes as the dangers posed by impoverished immigrants of color.
In early October 2024, Trump escalated his rhetoric by suggesting that some immigrants possess “faulty genes.” He claimed, without evidence, that “Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”
This is not the first time Trump has alluded to eugenics—a discredited, racist theory that certain individuals or races are genetically superior to others. In a 1988 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Trump stated, “You have to be born lucky in the sense that you have to have the right genes.”
In 2016, Trump linked his German ancestry to his success, saying, “I always said that winning is somewhat, maybe, innate. Maybe it’s just something you have; you have the winning gene. I’m proud to have that German blood, there’s no question about it.”
Again, in 2020, Trump suggested that intelligence is inherited: “I had an uncle who went to MIT who is a top professor. Dr. John Trump. A genius. It’s in my blood. I’m smart.”
Trump’s repeated references to the supposed superiority of white people over people of color have drawn comparisons to Nazi ideology. The Nazis famously believed in the superiority of a specific Aryan race and promoted eugenics as a means to achieve their racial goals.
Historical Roots of Eugenics
The concept of eugenics was developed in the 1860s by British scientist Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. It gained traction in both the U.S. and Britain, promoting the idea that racial identity, particularly white identity, is the most desirable.
By the early 1900s, American eugenicists began to view immigrants from non-Scandinavian countries with disdain, coining the term “Nordicism.” During a peak immigration period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, concerns about the influx of immigrants led to the rise of prominent eugenicists like Madison Grant and Lothrop Stoddard, who wrote influential books advocating for racial purity and segregation.
Stoddard’s 1920 book, “The Rising Tide of Color: The Threat Against White World-Supremacy,” warned that if immigration continued unchecked, white Americans would be “ultimately doomed.” Grant and others used eugenics to justify restrictive immigration policies, forced sterilizations, and systemic inequalities.
Harry H. Laughlin, an influential eugenicist, testified before Congress in 1922, claiming that “immigration is primarily a long-term national investment in human family stocks.” He expressed a particular concern about non-Nordic immigrants and praised those from Norway as “some of our finest and most desirable.”
The 1924 Immigration Act, which severely limited immigration based on nationality, emerged from these eugenic beliefs. It barred immigrants from Asia and imposed strict quotas that favored Northern Europeans.
After World War II and the Holocaust, eugenics lost its credibility and prominence in American discourse.
Trump’s Revival of Old Fears
Trump’s rhetoric reflects fears about immigration that were prevalent a century ago. He has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, suggesting he would remove one million people annually.
In April 2024, Trump dehumanized immigrants, stating, “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals.’” He has also expressed a preference for immigrants from “nice countries” like Denmark and Switzerland, echoing his earlier comments about “shithole countries.”
A Dangerous Nostalgia
Trump’s views can seem reminiscent of the “America First” platform promoted by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, a slogan that gained traction among nationalist and anti-immigrant groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. Coolidge, upon signing the 1924 Immigration Act, stated, “America must remain American.”
Today, Trump’s calls for an “America First” mentality, along with his use of the poem “The Snake” at rallies to warn against immigration, highlight a troubling return to discredited ideologies. Civil rights activist Oscar Brown wrote the poem in 1963, and his family contends that Trump misinterprets its meaning.
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