Trump scapegoats migrants again at Georgia event meant to discuss economy

At an event intended to tout economic policies that would usher in what his campaign calls a “new age of American industrialism”, Donald Trump spent as much time discussing personal grievances and blaming immigrants for everything from fentanyl overdoses to crime and taking Americans’ jobs as he did discussing the economy.

“This is a speech on economic development but this is a big part of economic development,” the former president said of immigration at a speech in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday.

After about 30 minutes of sticking to prepared remarks about the economy, Trump’s speech veered into other topics like immigration, much to the crowd’s delight.

“Close the border!” a man in the crowd yelled as Trump said that undocumented immigrants were responsible for myriad ills.

Some of the loudest cheers from a crowd of about 2,500 came when the Republican presidential nominee claimed that the United States already has much of what it needs to become an “economic powerhouse”, as he put it, including natural resources, skilled workers and leading companies.

“The only thing we don’t have is smart people leading our country,” Trump said.

Among other promises – including reducing Americans’ energy bills by half and claiming he would “prevent world war three” – Trump said he would revive American manufacturing and restore it to “how it was 50 years ago”. Trump also said he would block the sale of US Steel to the Japanese company Nippon – a plan that Joe Biden has said he plans to block.

The former president bashed electric cars – with the exception of those made by his supporter Elon Musk – a perhaps odd tactic considering the ongoing construction of a $5.4bn Hyundai electric car plant that will employ 8,500 workers and has been lauded by Georgia governor Brian Kemp. Trump didn’t mention the plant or Kemp in his remarks.

Trump then became sidetracked with immigration, questioning Kamala Harris’s intelligence and patriotism, and reliving an assassination attempt in July in Pennsylvania and another scare in Florida earlier this month.

Trump claimed it had been more than luck that saved his life the day he was grazed by an assassin’s bullet.

“People say: ‘It was God, and God came down and saved you because he wants you to bring America back,’” Trump said as the crowd began to chant “USA!”

Eventually returning to the economy, Trump said a plan to give away federal land to companies willing to build manufacturing facilities there would prompt “entire industries” to relocate to the United States.

He also said he would cap the tax rate for corporations at 15% – but only for companies whose products are made in the United States. Trump and Republicans already reduced the highest possible corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% when Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. The top-end corporate tax rate was made permanent under the law, but individual tax reductions included in the legislation are set to expire in 2025. Both candidates have said they want to see those tax cuts extended, but Harris says she would raise the highest rate to 28%.

It was Trump’s first visit to Georgia since 3 August, when he held a rally in Atlanta. Last month, Harris visited Savannah and held a rally that drew nearly 9,000 supporters.

Much of Trump’s economic policies can’t be separated from his views on immigration. That line of attack – that a weak economy and even inflation and the availability of goods is the fault of immigrants – resonated with a pair of the Republican candidate’s voters waiting to get into his event on Tuesday.

“We don’t have enough groceries in our stores because of all the immigrants here,” said Christy Donley, who drove from nearby Pembroke to hear Trump speak. “We’ve got Americans here who can’t get the American dream but we’re giving the American dream to illegal immigrants.”

Donley’s friend, Kassie Williams, chimed in.

“Loans, healthcare, drivers’ licenses – we’re giving all this stuff to immigrants whether they deserve it or not,” said Williams, who believes that the corporate tax cuts Trump has proposed will help out individual workers. “I want to hear him be more detailed when he says he’s going to give corporations tax breaks. I understand how it benefits everybody – they’ll lower the unemployment rate, which will make for more tax revenue from people – but not everybody might understand that.”