Trump joked about alligators attacking escaping migrant detainees
Asked whether escaping migrant detainees would be eaten by alligators or snakes, Trump said that was the concept and joked that zigzag running would barely improve their chances. [The American Presidency Project (official presidential transcript)]
Read the scope first.
Source-checked record of Trump's public remarks. Claims within the remarks are attributed statements, not independently established facts.
WHAT THE DOCUMENT SAYS
The record.
Asked whether escaping migrant detainees would be eaten by alligators or snakes, Trump said that was the concept and joked that zigzag running would barely improve their chances. [The American Presidency Project (official presidential transcript)]
KEEP THIS PART ATTACHED
The context.
Before departure to the Florida detention facility, the reporter asked about escaping detainees. The transcript marks a zig-zag gesture and laughter. This is a joke about potential harm, not proof an attack occurred or an operative instruction to harm detainees. [The American Presidency Project (official presidential transcript)]
SEPARATE FROM THE FACTUAL RECORD
Editorial classification.
demeaning-language · violence
Joking about potentially lethal danger to people escaping state custody supplies a qualified cruelty-in-state-custody and demeaning-language rationale. The escape condition, joke, gesture and laughter remain attached; no racial claim, actual attack or harm directive is asserted. [The American Presidency Project (official presidential transcript)]
These labels explain the editors’ selection. They are not a court finding or an automated verdict.
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Open the original.
- Official presidential transcript · The American Presidency Project (official presidential transcript)Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Ochopee, Florida
Alligator Alcatraz Migrant Detention Facility section; web text lines 63–73
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-exchange-with-reporters-prior-departure-for-ochopee-florida
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