"Bad genes": Trump causes scandal with statement about migrants

USA - Donald Trump (78) repeatedly attacks migrants in the US election campaign and makes crime a key issue. A new statement is causing a stir.

Donald Trump (78) has caused a stir with a new statement about migrants.
Donald Trump (78) has caused a stir with a new statement about migrants.  © Alex Brandon/AP/dpa

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has once again made disparaging remarks about migrants.

"You know, a murderer, I think it's in the genes," Trump said in an interview. "And we have a lot of bad genes in our country right now."

The US government has let hundreds of thousands of people into the country who are criminals, he said.

Asked about Trump's statement, Karine Jean-Pierre, spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden , said: "That kind of language is hateful, it's disgusting, it's inappropriate and it has no place in our country."

Trump is running against Biden's running mate Kamala Harris (59)in the US presidential election on November 5. Polls predict a close race.

Kamala Harris (59) is Trump's Democratic challenger in the upcoming US election.
Kamala Harris (59) is Trump's Democratic challenger in the upcoming US election.  © Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Reuters/AP/dpa

Trump repeatedly makes racist remarks about migrants

Trump repeatedly portrays immigrants as dangerous criminals and insults them in a racist manner. He also uses dehumanizing language and said, for example, that they "poison the blood of our country".

In his inaugural speech as a presidential candidate at the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee in July, he indirectly referred to migrants as garbage.