President Donald Trump on Monday spoke at a White House event in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, two agencies housed within the Department of Homeland Security charged with immigration law enforcement and border security, respectively.
In a strange turn, Trump repeatedly referred to CBP as “CBC.” Was he referring to the Congressional Black Caucus? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation? Who knows.
He also made sure to mention that a Border Patrol officer he invited on stage “speaks perfect English.”
Trump repeatedly referred to CBP (Customs and Border Protection) as “CBC” today. Twice here: pic.twitter.com/xnQduYfT92
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) August 20, 2018
Twice here: pic.twitter.com/fHHfg7Zujl
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) August 20, 2018
Twice here: pic.twitter.com/O3ii3o5BHE
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) August 20, 2018
Separately, Trump brought up a CPB officer he identified only as “Adrian,” who he credited with stopping a human smuggler who’d locked 78 people in the back of a trailer and attempted to cross the border.
“Speaks perfect English,” he said, referring to Adrian.
He also made sure to note a CBP officer “speaks perfect English” for some reason… pic.twitter.com/rNI5srMVaN
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) August 20, 2018
As the Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale noted, Trump lied multiple times during his remarks, including by saying his promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border “is getting longer and taller and stronger each and every day,” and by asserting ICE was “actually liberating towns.”
He’s referring to the California Building Code.
And keep in mind that this was one of Trump’s briefer and more reserved appearances.
Possibly, the synergism and MAGA crowd - Trump symbiosis of one of his rallies, was not a factor at this event.
Donnie is “The Three Stooges” rolled all into one person. Sad.
Is Adrian not Aryan? If Trump has reason to suspect someone’s cultural bona fides*, he’s likely to fixate on that suspicion, and that could easily manifest itself in an attempt to overcompensate for his own suspicion by highlighting information that runs counter to that suspicion.
I say “cultural bona fides” because I think Trump plays pretty fast and loose with the distinction between culture and ethnicity. If he knew that this Adrian fellow was born to Irish Catholics but raised by Messicans or something, it would trigger Trump’s xenophobia.