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President Trump framed the upcoming midterm elections as a battle for “Western civilization” on Monday, pointing to a wave of violent riots in France.
“If you want to see what’s at stake in this election, just look at France,” Trump said at a rally in Wichita, Kansas.
The president described France as “a once great nation that is being conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists who hate Christianity.”
“And they hate, frankly, the Western civilization itself,” Trump added.
At least 2,400 arrests were made over the weekend as violence and looting broke out across the country, including in the capital city of Paris.
The student-led protests began last month over school conditions and have broadened to focus on the cost of living and inflation.
Authorities estimate that at least 3,000 businesses have been damaged or ransacked in several cities.
In the town of Limonge, demonstrators set the municipality’s historic town hall ablaze Saturday. The raging fire caused the collapse of the 143-year-old building’s roof and clock tower.
“When you see burning steeples and raging fires in France, just remember, that is what the radical Democrats want to do to America,” Trump charged. “They expect to do it. They’re not going to come close.”
The president declared that “the Democrat agenda is a plan to extinguish Western civilization.”
“They want to open the borders … They want to shut down our power plants. They want to set loose the criminals, turn your children transgender, confiscate your money and raise up the Palestinian flag right in the middle of your wonderful state and, at the same time, they’re willing to defile our great and very beautiful American flag,” Trump continued, reiterating, “We’re not going to let that happen.”
Trump blamed “third-world migrants” and “globalist left-wing politicians” for the turmoil in France.
“They’ve surrendered their country to vandals,” the president said of French leaders, describing the protesters as migrants who “refuse to assimilate” and “only want to enter the welfare state paid for by hardworking citizens of France.”
“This is what’s happening to France. They want it to happen to our country.”
Trump made the trek to Kansas as part of his whirlwind red-state tour ahead of the November midterms.
At the rally, Trump boosted incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) – calling him “one of the best” in the Senate – and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson.
The president also expressed his condolences for the victims of a “horrific car crash” in Wichita over the weekend that injured 10 people and killed two, including a 6-year-old boy.
“We grieve for the beautiful lives that were lost. And pray for those who were tragically injured,” Trump said. “What a horrible event.”
The 34-year-old driver who smashed her vehicle into a crowd at the Stryker Sports Complex Saturday afternoon has been released without charges.
“We want to get to the bottom of what happened,” Trump said of the tragedy. “That was a terrible thing. And we’re going to give, and you have great law enforcement, but we’re going to give them whatever help they need.
“We want to find out what happened.”