Politics
GOP sticks to the message that migrants are dangerous
On stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, supporters of former President Trump painted migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as dangerous gang members, sex traffickers and terrorists who put American families “at great risk.”
“Joe Biden’s surge has also led to a surge in violent crimes committed by illegal migrants,” a narrator says in a video shown at the convention. “Horrific crimes, murders, gang attacks against our police, child sex crimes and the brutal killing of a nursing student on her college campus.”
In the wake of the attempted assassination, Trump’s campaign messaging continued undeterred, casting immigrants as the source of violence in the United States. Yet the shooting that left Trump with an injured ear was allegedly committed by someone who fits the typical profile of perpetrators of targeted violence — a young, white man described by some former classmates as a bullied loner. The suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks was registered to vote in Pennsylvania, and only citizens may register.
“Targeted violence is often done by angry people who don’t have well thought out narratives but are more impulsive and idiosyncratic,” said Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSU San Bernardino.
He said said most targeted violence is committed by young, white men in their teens and early 20s. Studies show immigrants commit less crime than U.S.-born citizens.
Using data collected between 2012 and 2018 from the Texas Department of Public Safety, researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that undocumented immigrants had substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens across a number of felony offenses including violent crimes, drug crimes and property crimes.
A similar study by Alex Nowrasteh at the Libertarian Cato Institute found that undocumented immigrants had a homicide rate 14% below that of native-born citizens. Texas is the only state to keep data on the immigration status of people arrested for specific crimes.
Ran Abramitzky, a Stanford University professor who helped lead a nationally representative study comparing incarceration rates among immigrants and U.S.-born citizens from 1870 to 2020, recently told The Times that “as a group, immigrants have had lower incarceration rates than the U.S.-born for 150 years.”
But political fear mongering isn’t responsive to facts, Levin said, which is why the GOP will continue blaming immigrants for violent crime.
“The anecdotal image, the scary image of somebody who is different is going to be what sells that fear,” he said. “Political theater involves the construction, or at least amplification or exaggeration of grievances, and that’s problematic.”
Even though the man who shot Trump doesn’t fit the profile of who he blames for crime, the shooting at his Pennsylvania rally Saturday could make it easier for Republicans to pitch voters on a broader narrative about the need for law and order. That could wind up conflating violent extremism by American citizens with violent crimes committed by immigrants.
“I think there absolutely will be an attempt to connect the former president’s attempted assassination to paint that we live in this dark, fearful American carnage type of world,” said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. “He will try to paint everything with one broad brushstroke.”
Democrats can use that spin to their advantage, she said, by pointing out the truth: that border arrests are down, crime is down, and immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
GOP strategist Matt Terrill said crime and safety were already top concerns for many voters, who look at the issue of security holistically — taking into account not just immigration, but also concerns including violence at protests and domestic terrorism.
“What occurred on Saturday only pushes those issues of crime and security further into the fold,” he said. “What they’re looking for right now is someone who can lead on that issue.”
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention did not respond to a request for comment.
The top priority listed in the Republican Party platform, which will be voted on this week, is “SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION.”
“We will end the Invasion at the Southern Border, restore Law and Order, protect American Sovereignty, and deliver a Safe and Prosperous Future for all Americans,” the platform states.
Trump himself has echoed statements by Adolf Hitler in saying that immigrants who enter illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and plans to greatly expand detention capacity and deport millions of people per year.
At the convention Tuesday, speaker after speaker zeroed in on migration as a threat to public safety.
“Look at the border,” said Trump’s former rival Nikki Haley. “It’s the single, biggest threat Americans face.”
“We can’t survive the dramatic increases in violence, crime and drugs that the Democrats’ policies have brought upon our communities,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson. “And we cannot allow the many millions of illegal aliens they’ve allowed to cross our borders to harm our citizens, drain our resources or disrupt our elections.”
“Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous,” said Michael Morin, the brother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was killed while jogging in Maryland last August. The man charged in her killing had entered the U.S. illegally.
“But there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother,” Michael Morin said.
Levin, the extremism expert at Cal State San Bernardino, said Trump’s near-assassination and the resulting messaging makes people more susceptible to conspiracies and stereotypes.
“There’s a fear narrative behind it, and viciously combined with it is an array of purported assailants which threaten American tradition — in other words, these people are coming to our country and they speak other languages and practice other religions,” he said.
Sonja Diaz, who was executive director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute and now runs the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, believes the fallout from the attempted assassination of Trump will reinvigorate the idea of law and order, which could reinforce exclusionary law enforcement policies that negatively affect immigrants.
“That rhetoric has been an ‘Us versus them’ and that ‘them’ has really squarely been situated at the U.S.-Mexico border,” she said.
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President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama being arrested on Sunday, a nod to recent claims made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
In the Truth Social post, Trump shared a TikTok video of various Democrats, including Obama, saying that “No one is above the law.”
Later in the 45-second AI-generated video, Trump and Obama are seen sitting in the Oval Office before Obama is arrested by agents as the song “YMCA” plays.
The AI-generated version of Trump grins as Obama is apprehended and eventually thrown in a jail cell. The AI-generated Obama is also seen wearing an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
OBAMA OFFICIALS ADMITTED THEY HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION: HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS
President Donald Trump shared a fake AI video that showed former President Barack Obama being arrested. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The video surfaced amid allegations from Gabbard that Obama and his intel chiefs manufactured the Russia collusion narrative.
“The implications of this are frankly nothing short of historic,” Gabbard said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday episode of “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Over 100 documents that we released on Friday really detail and provide evidence of how this treasonous conspiracy was directed by President Obama just weeks before he was due to leave office after President Trump had already gotten elected,” Gabbard claimed.
WHITE HOUSE WANTS OBAMA INTEL OFFICIALS ‘HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ FOR ROLE PEDDLING 2016 RUSSIA HOAX
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claimed former President Barack Obama and his intel chiefs manufactured the Russia collusion narrative. (Associated Press)
Gabbard also said that she planned to send the uncovered documents to the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) for a criminal referral.
Documents shared by Gabbard’s office claim that before the 2016 election, there was no evidence of collusion with Russia – and that politically motivated actors distorted the narrative to harm Trump, not in response to new intelligence.
“Creating this piece of manufactured intelligence that claims that Russia had helped Donald Trump get elected contradicted every other assessment that had been made previously in the months leading up to the election that said exactly the opposite, that Russia had neither the intent nor the capability to try to ‘hack the United States election,’” Gabbard told host Maria Bartiromo.
Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, arrives to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
“So the effect of what President Obama and his senior national security team did was subvert the will of the American people, undermining our democratic republic and enacting what would be essentially a years-long coup against President Trump, who was duly elected by the American people,” she added.
Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
SACRAMENTO — In a common insult the Trump administration uses against dissidents of federal policy, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called a California judge a “communist” after she blocked roving immigration arrests based on race alone.
The MAGA-embraced epithet from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s official press office in response, however, was hardly typical for a Democratic politician.
“This fascist cuck in DC continues his assault on democracy and the Constitution, and his attempt to replace the sovereignty of the people with autocracy,” the California governor’s office posted on social media. “Sorry the Constitution hurt your feelings, Stephen. Cry harder.”
Popular among the far right and the gutters of social media, the term is used to insult liberals as weak and is also short for “cuckold,” which refers to the husband of an unfaithful wife.
The low blow sanctioned by a potential 2028 presidential candidate set a new paradigm for the political left that has long embraced Michelle Obama’s “when they go low, we go high” motto to rise above the callousness of Trump and his acolytes.
It’s also an example of Newsom’s more aggressive social media strategy.
This week the governor posted memes of Trump with child molester and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Shortly after the Department of Homeland Security detained and handcuffed U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla at a news conference in June, state Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rockland) alleged on X that he would be treated the same way if he interrupted an event held by the governor.
“I’d politely ask you to leave,” retorted Newsom’s communications director, Izzy Gardon. “Though you do not deserve politeness in this moment for this grotesque tweet, you bald little man.” (Patterson later added “Bald little man” to his profile on the social media site.)
The governor and his taxpayer-supported press office joked that HBO had cast Miller as Lord Voldemort — the pasty, hairless super villain in the “Harry Potter” stories — and mocked the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general after he accused Newsom of fomenting lawlessness.
The governor defended the more combative posture at a recent news conference. He noted that Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, had used the word last month when he called Newsom “the biggest cuck in politics.”
“I don’t think they understand any other kind of language, so I have no apologies for standing tall and firm and pushing back against their cruelty,” Newsom said.
Newsom’s advisors say the governor reached a turning point after the president sent California National Guard troops into Los Angeles to protect federal agents from clashes with protesters during immigration sweeps. Since Trump took office in January, the Democratic leader had been walking a fine line between calling out the president and playing nice in hopes of being able to work together after the California wildfires.
The governor said publicly said that the decision to militarize Los Angeles showed him that you can’t work with the president, only for him. With federal troops on the ground, his aides said, Newsom also wanted to stand up for California, concerned about what would happen if he didn’t.
The directive was to match the tactics emanating from the White House and meet Trump and his allies where they are. Forget the high road.
Over the last month, they’ve taken on more fights with Newsom’s critics, reacted more quickly to shoot down misinformation about the governor or California, challenged narratives they find to be untrue, or unfair, and taken many of their own shots.
“Sometimes the best way to challenge a bully is to punch them in the metaphorical face,” said Bob Salladay, Newsom’s top communications advisor. “These tactics may seem extreme to some and they are, but there’s a significant difference here: We’re targeting powerful forces that are ripping apart this country, using their own words and tactics. Trump and Stephen Miller are attacking the powerless like every fascist bully before them.”
Newsom’s aides say the strategy is working.
The governor’s personal social media accounts gained 2.3 million new followers, including over 1 million each on TikTok and Instagram, and more than 883 million views from June 6 to July 6, according to his tallies.
Podcasters and social media influencers, such as Fred Wellman and Brian Tyler Cohen, boosted the interest with their own posts about the governor. On TikTok in particular, there’s a growing ecosystem of people who make videos about his videos.
Newsom’s official state accounts also experienced an exponential rise in followers and engagement in June.
The attention bodes well for a politician considering a bid for president. His aides argue that the strategy benefits California by shutting down misinformation and helping people understand what’s really going on.
“The thing that he does so well these days is that he responds rapidly, and he responds rapidly in a way that’s very snackable to the average consumer of news,” said Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.
North pointed to the adage that “it takes a minute to say a sound bite, but an hour to explain why it is false.”
Republicans have been considered masters of sound bites for decades, and Democrats are often criticized for trying to explain the details of policies when people just want to hear the bottom line.
Newsom is breaking that mold, she said.
“He has emerged as the person willing and able to take on the president, but in some ways, they use the same playbook of quick, engaging responses that are easy for people to understand without any analysis,” North said. “Newsom has the advantage of playing defense as an offense. So when the president says something that is problematic to California or problematic to everyday citizens, Gavin Newsom is laser-focused and ready to strike back without any hesitation, and in a way that’s very simple and very engaging.”
In some ways, the governor learned the hard way after Trump used his platforms to label Newsom as “incompetent” and blame him for the Los Angeles wildfires in January. The president made a barrage of claims at news conferences and on the social media site Truth Social about dry reservoirs, the need to transfer more water from Northern to Southern California, a lack of forest management and empty fire hydrants that went viral, leaving Newsom on the back foot defending himself.
When Trump sent the National Guard into Los Angeles, the governor almost immediately went on the attack to counter the president’s claims that he deployed troops to control lawlessness that Newsom had allowed. The governor’s office said his June 10 speech, which framed Trump as unnecessarily invading an American city for his own political gain, received 41 million views.
Although Newsom’s aggression has received praise from some Democrats, it’s also a “a massive pivot from being a Bannon bro,” said Eric Jaye, a former senior advisor to Newsom turned critic who opposed his 2018 gubernatorial bid.
Jaye is referring to the “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast, where the governor flummoxed Democrats who thought he appeared too chummy with Trump campaign architect Steve Bannon, conservative personality Charlie Kirk and others close to the president.
Newsom billed the show as an opportunity to speak to people with other viewpoints and he delivered on that premise. The governor also received criticism from within his own party for not forcefully challenging the perspectives that directly contradicted Democratic values, such as opposition to abortion rights, and agreeing with Kirk that it’s unfair for transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Jaye credited Newsom with “a very quick turnaround,” which “saved himself.”
But now, with his amped-up social media presence, Newsom runs the risk of offending voters who miss respectful political discourse.
Trump’s derogatory nicknames for his opponents, such as calling Newsom “Newscum” or Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” have not appeared to cause the president much political harm. He embraced “lock her up” chants about Hillary Clinton in 2016 and constantly mocked Joe Biden before the former president dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest. Trump still won both races.
North said Trump also has the benefit of saying things that appear “passionate and reckless,” but people don’t believe he’s going to follow through.
As a potential presidential contender, the question is whether Newsom can use words such as “cuck” and say he wants to change laws to redistrict California to benefit Democrats in the midterm elections without worrying people and seeming too Trump-like to be palatable to voters who detest the president’s antics.
“It has to be disturbing to a lot of people if the new era of politics involves hostile personal attacks,” North said.
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
Politics
Trump directs AG Bondi to work on unsealing grand jury transcripts in Epstein case: 'We are ready'
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President Donald Trump late Thursday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to work on releasing grand jury transcripts in the case of Jeffrey Epstein.
It’s unclear exactly when any testimony may go public. The Justice Department is expected to file Friday asking a judge to unseal transcripts.
The order came after a barrage of criticism against the Trump administration following the release of a joint DOJ-FBI memo that concluded there was no evidence that the disgraced financier had blackmailed powerful people, kept a client list or was killed while in jail.
The memo has created deep fissures among Trump supporters who have complained of a lack of transparency from the administration. A source told Fox News Digital that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino had been considering resigning over the matter, though he has not stated anything publicly.
The president, meanwhile, has pushed back at the criticism, calling the charges a “hoax” and contending that his supporters are being “duped” by Democrats. Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday morning, “If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had [then-Attorney General Merrick Garland] and [then-FBI Director James Comey] in charge, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!”
BONDI SHOULD RELEASE ‘CREDIBLE’ EPSTEIN FILES, TRUMP SAYS
FILE: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks alongside President Donald Trump on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
DOJ BRASS VOWED FULL TRANSPARENCY ON EPSTEIN BEFORE TURNING UP EMPTY-HANDED
Before joining the Trump administration, Bondi was among the staunchest advocates for releasing the Epstein list, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity in 2024: “It should have come out a long time ago.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI handed over a “truckload” of Jeffrey Epstein files to the DOJ. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP | Getty Images)
The Justice Department released a new batch of Epstein files in February, but the documents revealed no new revelations in the case. Many of the documents had already been released during the federal criminal trial of Epstein’s associate, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
MAGA WORLD ERUPTS OVER TRUMP’S DEFENSE OF BONDI AMID EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT
Trump has defended Bondi over the latest fallout, telling reporters earlier this week: “She’s handled it very well, and it’s going to be up to her, whatever she thinks is credible she should release.”
On Thursday, Trump said he had directed Bondi to release all “pertinent” transcripts on the case.
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Testimony, subject to Court approval,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Thursday. “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”
Bondi said her team was “ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
Epstein, a 66-year-old millionaire financier with a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, died in federal custody in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
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