Trump suggests that immigrants have “bad genes” in his recent denigration of migrants

In an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that aired Monday morning, former President Donald Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for her policies at the southern border and suggested that migrants have “bad genes.”

“If you look at the things she suggests, they are so far out that she has no idea. How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of whom were murderers,” he said, referring to the vice president's immigration proposals.

“Many of them have murdered far more than one person and are now living happily in the United States,” he added. “You know, now a murderer, I think it's in her genes. And we have a lot of bad genes in our country right now. They left, they let 425,000 people come into our country that shouldn’t be here, they’re criminals.”

NBC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for further clarification.

The number of 13,000 given by Trump is misleading. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Congress in September that 13,000 immigrants convicted of murder are living outside ICE detention, but three law enforcement officials told NBC News that number does not include people detained outside ICE detention because that ICE does not track detentions at the state or local level. Two law enforcement officials also told NBC News that many of them crossed the border before Biden was president (including during Trump's term).

The number of border crossings across the country has declined this year, partly due to Biden administration policies and partly due to Mexico's efforts (which followed the Biden administration's pressure on the Mexican government).

During a rally last month, Trump argued that Harris should be “indicted and prosecuted” and suggested that her border policies had resulted in people being murdered by migrants crossing the border. Trump and his allies have sought to blame Harris for millions of migrant border crossings after Biden tasked her in 2021 with tackling the root causes of migration from Central America.

Trump has long used derogatory rhetoric when it comes to immigration. He launched his 2016 presidential campaign by complaining that Mexico wasn't sending “the best” people. Since then, his comments have increased, accusing immigrants of “poisoning the blood of our country,” a phrase the Biden campaign compared to Adolf Hitler and which was rebuked by Republican lawmakers.

This isn't the first time Trump has invoked racial science. In 2020, he praised a nearly all-white crowd at a rally in Minnesota for their “good genes” and referenced a belief promoted by white supremacists called the “racehorse theory.”

“You have good genes. You know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it has to do with genes, right? The racehorse theory. Do you think we are that different? “There are good genes in Minnesota,” Trump said at the 2020 rally.