In a speech in New Jersey, the presidential candidate added to his anti-immigrant rhetoric, likening illegal immigrants to Hannibal Lecter, the character played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie for which he won an Oscar.
Describing Lecter as "a wonderful person", the former president said, "Has anyone ever seen the movie 'Silence of the Lambs'? Many times he would invite a friend to dinner. Do you remember the last scene, where the poor doctor says, 'Excuse me, I'm invited to a friend for dinner. That friend was Hannibal Lecter. The late, great Hannibal Lecter."
"People we don't want in our country are roaming freely," the Republican candidate said, adding, "They come into our country completely unchecked, unvetted. They are destroying our country and we are sitting back. We can't let that happen. We better win this election, because if we don't, our country will be ruined. It will be ruined."
"Migrants are mentally ill"
When he first ran for president in 2015, Trump claimed that immigrants were "violent criminals" or "mental patients" sent to the US by other countries.
Trump has also referred to migrants in public speeches as people from "mental institutions".
Trump has criticized President Biden's administration's handling of the migrant crisis, referencing the Hannibal Lecter character several times during the campaign.
