Former President Donald Trump, a candidate for the presidential race for the White House, recited the lyrics of a song he claimed likened immigrants to a snake during a campaign rally in New Jersey on Saturday. The Republican candidate addressed his supporters gathered in Wildwood, at one of the first rallies of his campaign since the start of his criminal trial in New York, stating that it is a song called "The Snake," which talks about "illegal immigration and how stupid what we are doing now is."
The lyrics recited by Trump tell the story of a woman who cares for a weak snake she found, before being poisoned by its bite. Trump described this as "the story of our country." The song "The Snake" was written by an African American civil rights activist and gained popularity through soul singer Al Wilson in 1968. It does not discuss immigration, but Trump regularly uses its lyrics, having first done so in 2016, according to the Washington Post.
The former Republican president, who will face Democratic President Joe Biden in the presidential elections, increasingly employs violent rhetoric towards immigrants in the United States. A few months ago, he stated that immigrants "poison the blood" of the United States, remarks that were met with a flood of criticism. Biden’s campaign team accused him of emulating Adolf Hitler. During his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump shocked many with his statements about illegal immigrants, whom he described as "rapists." He then promised to build a massive wall along the 3,000-kilometer border with Mexico to prevent immigrants from entering U.S. territory, a project that was never completed.
