Trump invokes French riots to warn voters against Democrats

Donald Trump invoked the fires and riots in France at a campaign rally for Republican senator Roger Marshall in Park City, Kansas, on Monday. He used the unrest to warn voters about the Democrats ahead of the 3 November midterm elections, but offered no evidence that a Democratic victory would lead to similar violence in the United States, Reuters reported. [4] [6]

“When you see burning steeples and raging fires in France, just remember that is what the radical Democrats want to do to America,” Trump said. In the same passage, he added: “They expect to do it. They’re not going to come close.” Reuters described his warning as a scenario that could arise unless Republicans won; that conditional wording was not part of the recorded passage. [1] [6]

The French violence is real. About 2,400 people were arrested across France on Saturday, according to authorities cited by the Associated Press. Rioters set vehicles alight, looted businesses and attacked public buildings. But the unrest took place alongside demonstrations over rising living costs and poor conditions in schools, in which hundreds of thousands marched peacefully. [7]

Trump also blamed the destruction on migrants, jihadists and communists. French authorities have blamed far-left radicals and opportunistic criminals; a policing researcher told AP that the far-left fringe was too small to account for the violence alone. Those accounts do not establish the identity or immigration status of every rioter, and the events in France do not establish that Democrats intend such violence in America. [5] [7]

Marshall is seeking re-election against Democrat Adam Hamilton in a state that, Reuters reports, has not elected a Democratic US senator for 94 years. [4]