Former President Donald Trump at a campaign event on Dec. 19, 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric at a rally in State College on Saturday, claiming the U.S. has “become essentially an occupied country,” and “a dumping ground for nations all over the world,” during a speech at Penn State University.
“We’ve become like a garbage can for the rest of the world,” Trump told the audience at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center, repeating a phrase he’s used at several rallies recently. “They’re throwing all their garbage into our country.”
He repeated his pledge to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” if he wins another term, but without providing specifics of how he would go about it. American towns have been “invaded and conquered,” Trump told the audience.
Trump also repeated several debunked claims about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and Aurora, Colorado, and played several videos mocking his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris with clips of her speaking. He boasted about last weekend’s visit to a Bucks County McDonald’s where he served fries to pre-selected “customers,” and touted his recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Trump invited the championship Penn State men’s wrestling team on stage with him at one point during the rally. “ I don’t know if this platform can hold them, because that’s a lot of muscle. You know, muscle is much heavier than fat,” he said.
As the race heads into the final stretch, Harris and Trump are polling neck-and-neck, with multiple campaign stops in Pennsylvania over the final nine days before Election Day. Harris is in Philadelphia on Sunday after a rally in Michigan Saturday night with former first lady Michelle Obama, who made an impassioned plea in favor of women’s reproductive freedoms.
Trump is in New York City on Sunday for a rally at Madison Square Garden.
The Keystone State’s 19 electoral votes make it a must-win for either candidate.