In a freewheeling interview with far-right Fox news host Sean Hannity, President Donald Trump began lamenting the so-called crisis at the southern border.
After insisting that his administration is capturing immigrants who cross the border illegally and that "miles and miles" of wall is being built there, the President then implied that simply shooting immigrants with machine guns would be more effective.
Watch below:
Here's the President of the United States saying he isn't going to shoot undocumented immigrants but shooting undoc… https://t.co/g9qAuYJioC— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1553738433.0
Trump told Hannity:
"Y'know, we don't do like other countries, other countries stand there with machine guns ready to fire. We can't do that, and I wouldn't wanna do that. It's a very effective way of doing it, and I wouldn't wanna do it, we can't do it."
Trump's rhetoric has incited violence before, with supporters beating protesters and media crews at his rallies and Caesar Sayoc sending bombs to perceived enemies of the President. Even on the campaign trail, he once pondered that maybe there was something the "Second Amendment people" could do about Hillary Clinton. Just recently, Trump was praised in the manifesto of the white supremacist Christchurch shooter, who killed 49 Muslim worshipers in New Zealand this month.
Horrified viewers saw his rhetoric on Hannity as a continuance of this insidious pattern.
@ndrew_lawrence @NerbieDansers Saving this one for the next inevitable shooting people will act as if came from nowhere— Justin Chaillet (@Justin Chaillet) 1553749549.0
@ndrew_lawrence And when people start doing it he’ll say he had nothing to do with it. 🤦🏻♀️— Jen💐 (@Jen💐) 1553775762.0
but hey, at least there wasn't a mass shooting recently inspired in part by Trumps racist rhetoric along with fear of immigration— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1553739335.0
That wasn't the only thing that viewers of the interview found disturbing.
Sean Hannity is one of the President's most vocal supporters. He even spoke onstage at one of the President's rallies, an ethically questionable decision, as Hannity often accuses other networks of holding political bias.
Trump's comfort with Hannity has alarmed many.
President Trump tweets a clip of Lou Dobbs thanking Sean Hannity for thanking various Foxers for defending Trump on… https://t.co/iYYJQ1KETr— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1553716186.0
every hannity interview with trump: “you’re awesome. please explain.”— Siraj Hashmi (@Siraj Hashmi) 1553738254.0
Trump calls CNN “so fake, so horribly fake,” and also bashes MSNBC. He says he’s pleased their ratings were very lo… https://t.co/y4tS5BVck5— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1553736644.0
Though Trump may think Hannity "has credibility," half of the statements he makes publicly range from mostly false to blatantly false.
Two peas in a pod.