'Mein First Kampf': Stephen Colbert slams Trump for channeling Hitler for anti-immigrant rhetoric
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'The Late Show' host Stephen Colbert poked fun at former President Donald Trump, suggesting that his recent reference to "blood poisoning" at a New Hampshire rally echoed shades of Hitler.
'That is absolutely disgusting also not true'
Colbert began, "It is december 18th, and it's beginning to look a lot like fascism," referring to Michael Buble's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas".
"Over the weekend, in New Hampshire he had some pretty disturbing things to say about immigration", he continued, before displaying a video of Trump at the campaign speech on December 16.
In the clip, Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential election, was seen making remarks asserting that immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country."
He committed to implementing stricter immigration laws, which involved reinstating a travel ban from what he referred to as "terror-plagued countries" and imposing rigorous "strong ideological screening" for unauthorized immigrants in the country.
Colbert responded, "That is absolutely disgusting also not true. The blood of our country isn't being poisoned by immigrants. It's being poisoned by dipping pizza in ranch dressing".
He continued as the audience "booed" at Trump's perspective, "The statement is horrifying in and of itself, but it gets even worse when you realize that the term "blood poisoning" was used by Hitler in his manifesto "Mein kampf'".
The 'Late Show' host referenced Marc Short, former chief of staff to have served Vice President Mike Pence, who participated in a panel on Fox News Sunday.
Short expressed skepticism about the 77-year-old Trump being fully aware of what he was saying. "I think it’s highly unlikely that Donald Trump has ever read Mein Kampf," Short said to laughs from the panelists.
Colbert makes a correction and chimed in, "Cause it's a book he probably got the version with pictures 'Mein First Kampf'".
An animated book showcased a depiction of a baby with a mustache resembling Hitler's, posing with an extended right arm and playing with toy tanks and airplanes.
Trump claimed immigrants have 'poisoned mental institutions and prisons'
During the rally in Durham, New Hampshire on December 16, the former president employed language reminiscent of past fascists as he criticized immigrants.
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump told his supporters referring to immigrants.
“That’s what they’ve done. They’ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. Nobody’s even looking at it.”
Hitler employed comparable language in his 1925 manifesto, 'Mein Kampf', accusing Jews of "poisoning the blood of others".
Trump has also expressed admiration for authoritarian leaders in various countries, such as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he described as "very nice," and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whom he deemed "highly respected." Additionally, he endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin's criticism of President Joe Biden.
With the New Hampshire primary scheduled for January 23, following the Iowa caucuses on January 15, Trump has maintained a lead in polling in both states.
