Rush Limbaugh Compares Immigrants at Mexico Border to D-Day 'Invasion Force'
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh used Thursday's 75th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings to equate migrants at the southern border to the multinational army that invaded Nazi-occupied Europe.
World leaders gathered in France for a solemn ceremony on Thursday, which featured moving speeches from President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was uncharacteristically on-script, and was praised by many commentators for his statesman-like poise.
But Limbaugh decided to use the historic occasion to launch a new attack on migrants, Media Matters reported. Speaking on The Rush Limbaugh Show, the conservative firebrand suggested that the largest amphibious invasion in history was comparable to the migrants and asylum seekers trying to enter the U.S.
"Now, numbers are hard to remember on the radio, the number of soldiers landed on the beaches at Normandy, on D-Day, 129,710," Limbaugh told his listeners. "By the time you add the paratroopers and the pilots of aircraft that were flying over, bombing, transport, all of the crew that were on the ships that crossed the Channel, we're looking at a total of 150,000 Allied troops who were a part of the mission."
Limbaugh then pivoted to inflammatory phrasing also used by President Donald Trump and his supporters. "Just to put this in perspective, yesterday officials from the CPB—Border Patrol—announced that agents encountered more than 144,000 undocumented illegal aliens at the border in May," Limbaugh said. "In one month. Some might say an invasion force similar to that which stormed the beaches at D-Day.
"Same number of people, pretty much. Now, they're not armed, and it's not a military invasion obviously, but it nevertheless is an invasion." Mediaite pointed out that in this analogy, the U.S. is Nazi Germany, but this gave Limbaugh little pause.
Trump has not shied away from militarization of the migrant issue. The president was widely criticized for his decision to send U.S. troops to man the border at the end of last year, in a move condemned by many as a cynical political stunt intended to boost Republican performance in the midterms. American soldiers remain deployed in the border region.
The Trump administration is currently in a standoff with Mexico over migrant numbers at the border, with the president threatening to introduce wide-ranging tariffs unless Mexico takes steps to address the number of asylum seekers arriving at U.S. ports of entry.
