Trump uses migrant caravan as weapon against Democrats
MESA, Ariz. -- President Trump is using the migrant caravan as a weapon to bash the Democrats. "We are about law and order and borders and jobs and they are about allowing crime to enter our country with open borders," Mr. Trump said Friday.
He even blamed the Democrats for the caravan — while offering no evidence.
"People are saying there's a lot of money being passed around so that this would normally hit just before an election," Mr. Trump said. "But I happen to think it's a great issue for the Republicans — this is a great Republican issue."
Stoking fears about the caravan is the president's latest effort to rally his base just two and a half weeks before the congressional midterm elections.
On Thursday night in Montana, Mr. Trump said it would "be an election on Kavanaugh, the caravan, law and order and common sense. That's what it's going to be."
A recent CBS news poll found that Democrats are on track to win 226 seats in the House — more than the 218 needed for a majority.
And while immigration was a key issue in the president's 2016 victory, a CBS News poll out Friday says his approval rating on immigration is just 39 percent— the lowest on any issue.
In Mesa, Arizona Friday evening, hundreds of the president's fans, including Sue Black and her dog Lily, lined up in the hot sun to hear him speak. Black said she thought Mr. Trump was talking about the caravan to get people to the polls.
"We gotta stop them before they get here," she said about the caravan. "We can't even take care of our own people."
The president appears to agree, promising to deploy the military if the caravan makes it to the U.S. border. "And we're gonna have the military stationed," Mr. Trump said. "They're not coming into this country. They might as well turn back."
