A REPEAT ‘RAPE’ CHARGE
Prez: Caravan of molesters
President Trump claimed Thursday that women in the caravan of asylum seekers headed to the United States “are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before,” in a reprise of his widely criticized comments about Mexicans when he announced his campaign.
“Remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower, when I opened, everybody said, ‘He was so tough.’ I used the word rape, and yesterday it came out where this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before. They don’t want to mention that,” Trump declared in a speech in West Virginia that was supposed to be about tax policy.
“We cannot let people enter our country. We have no idea who they are, what they do, where they came from. We have no idea what the records are, we do not know if they are murderers, if they are killers.”
BuzzFeed News reporter Adolfo Flores, who has been traveling with the caravan of roughly 1,000 Central Ameri- cans, took to Twitter to debunk Trump’s claim.
“I’ve been with the caravan for 12 days and haven’t seen or heard of anyone being ‘ raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before,’ ” he wrote.
The caravan of immigrants, mostly from Honduras, was headed to the US border but instead changed its destination to Mexico City after Mexican au- thorities intervened.
They traveled as a group to protect themselves from criminals who rob or attack asylum seekers who are alone.
When he announced his candidacy at Trump Tower in June 2015, Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said then.
“They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
At one point Thursday, Trump tossed what appeared to be his prepared remarks in the air — saying, “The hell with that” — and launched into a rambling speech about trade, the economy and immigration.
He also reminisced at length about his election victory — and repeated his debunked claim that millions of people voted illegally, costing him the popular vote.
“In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that. They always like to say, ‘Oh, that’s a conspiracy theory!’ Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people,” the president said.
He also slammed Democrats, including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, for not supporting his agenda.
“We’re going to get a chance to have a senator that’s going to help our program,” he said as the crowd in White Sulphur Springs cheered.
Trump provided no evidence for his rape and voter-fraud claims, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the source of the president’s remark about rape.