Kevin Lamarque | Jay Paul | Reuters
Donald Trump continued his criticism of President Joe Biden’s “open border policy,” suggesting that it allowed “Radical Islamic Terrorists” to infiltrate the country, despite the fact that the New Year’s Eve terror attack in New Orleans was carried out by a U.S. citizen, Shamsud Din Jabbar.
The attack, which killed 15 and injured dozens more, took place when Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street before being killed in a shootout with police. Two officers were injured during the exchange, authorities said.
In a post on TruthSocial Thursday morning, Trump doubled down on his border rhetoric, writing, “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe.
That time has come, only worse than ever imagined. Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER. What he and his group of Election Interfering ‘thugs’ have done to our Country will not soon be forgotten! MAGA.”
Authorities confirmed that Jabbar, a Texas native, was heavily armed and was found in possession of an ISIS flag. The FBI is now investigating whether Jabbar was directed by ISIS to carry out the attack. In his national address on Wednesday, President Biden revealed that Jabbar had posted videos on social media expressing admiration for ISIS and a desire to kill, told NBC News.
Despite these revelations, Trump persisted in framing the attack as a consequence of immigration policy. This narrative has been widely disputed, with Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) calling out Trump for spreading misinformation.
On X, Murphy wrote, “Trump is intentionally lying about the attacker being an immigrant – he wasn’t. Why does it matter? Because he is going to use episodes of violence to justify his crackdown on immigrants and his attack on dissent – whether the facts line up or not. This is just the start.”
As the investigation continues, the debate surrounding the cause of the attack and its political ramifications grows, with Trump’s rhetoric drawing sharp rebukes from critics, particularly those pointing out the attacker’s American citizenship.
