US President-elect Donald Trump today again linked the deadly truck attack in New Orleans to President Joe Biden's border policy, even though the attacker was identified as an American citizen and military veteran, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Hours after the attack, which took place just hours after New Year's, Trump said it was no coincidence that he had stated during his election campaign that “the criminals who come are significantly worse than those in the country“.
Law enforcement later identified 42-year-old Shamsuddin Jabbar from Texas as the driver of the pickup truck that plowed into the crowd in New Orleans, killing 15 people.
Biden called the attack "disgusting" and said that before the attack, Jabbar had posted videos online "indicating that he was inspired by the Islamic State group." Illegal immigration was a key issue during the November US election, with Trump promising the largest deportation program in American history, often claiming that migrants commit more crimes than American citizens, AFP notes. This morning, Trump complained on his social media account "Truth Social" that "weak borders" had turned the United States into a "laughing stock." "The Justice Department, the FBI and state and local Democratic prosecutors have not done their jobs," said Trump, whose victory in November ended prosecutions against him for a number of alleged voting-related violations. "They are incompetent and corrupt, spending their time making illegal attacks on me, their political opponent, instead of focusing on protecting Americans from the rampant scum from within and without that has infiltrated every aspect of our government and our nation," he added.
Jabbar was a real estate broker working in Houston, not an illegal immigrant, and served as an IT specialist in the military.
Trump did not specifically mention the attack, but added: "The United States is falling apart. The violent erosion of safety, national security and democracy is a fact throughout our country." Only strength and powerful leadership will stop this.“
In an earlier post today, he warned that “In America, radical Islamic terrorism and other forms of violent crime will become so bad that it will be hard to even imagine or believe“.
“That time has come, only it is worse than we ever imagined,“ Trump added.