Trump caught on tape, ‘this could be the last election we ever have’ if Harris wins

During a private fundraising dinner this summer, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump launched a foul-mouthed tirade against undocumented immigrants and warned that “this could be the last election we ever have” if Kamala Harris wins.

According to The Guardian, citing a 12-minute recording of Trump’s speech that the news outlet has obtained, the former president made these comments at a dinner on August 10 in Aspen, Colorado, where attendees were required to contribute between $25,000 and $500,000 per couple.

Much of his address focused on border security and immigration, reiterating xenophobic claims that have become staples of his rallies.

“Radical leftwing lunatics” want people to come in from prisons, mental institutions and insane asylums, he was quoted as saying, without evidence, adding that the US was harbouring “a record number of terrorists”.

According to the report, the former president claimed that “smart, streetwise” leaders in Venezuela and other South American countries are sending murderers and drug dealers to the US to lower their crime rates, ease prison overcrowding, and save money.

He also cited a false example of 22 individuals he alleged were sent from the Democratic Republic of the Congo after being released from prison, the report added.

“We said, ‘Where do you come from?’ They said, ‘Prison’. ‘What did you do?’ ‘None of your fucking business what we did.’ You know why? Because they’re murderers,” he was quoted as saying.

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He added, “I hate to use that foul language”, apparently recognising that his use of the F-word went further than his campaign rallies.

The Congolese government has said there is no truth to Trump’s statements.

“These are the toughest people. These people are coming in from Africa, from the Middle East. They’re coming in from all parts of Asia, the bad parts, the parts where they’re rough, and the only thing good is they make our criminals look extremely nice. They make our Hell’s Angels look like the nicest people on earth,” he was quoted as saying.

Studies, however, show immigrants commit crimes less frequently than native-born Americans.

Trump travelled to Aspen on a Gulfstream G-550 previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein after his own plane, Trump Force One, faced engine issues. The dinner took place at the $38 million home of investors John and Amy Phelan, attended by notable figures including casino mogul Steve Wynn, billionaire Thomas Peterffy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and former Senator Cory Gardner, The Guardian reported.

At the exclusive event, Trump, who incited the January 6 insurrection, warned of dire consequences if his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, were to become president.

“Look, we gotta win and if we don’t win this country’s going to hell,” The Guardian quoted him as saying. “You know, there’s an expression, this could be the last election we ever have and it’s an expression that I really believe, and I believe that this could be the last election we ever have.”

The ex-president spoke a month before his first and likely only televised debate against Harris, whom polls and pundits widely expected to outperform him.

“I’m telling you we have a radical left person that’s going to be president – if she wins it’s going to be a disaster – she wants to be president very badly. Thank God she’s supposed to be horrible at debating, although she’s nasty, and she’s supposed to be really bad at interviews. She can’t do an interview,” Trump was quoted as saying.

Trump also claimed Harris supports the “defund the police” movement, suggesting she would revert to typical political behavior once elected.

“Her policy is defund the police. She wants to defund the police. She wants open borders. With a politician – and I’ve seen it because I’ve been on both sides of politics for a long time; now, a short time for this side but I was always a contributor – she wants to go out and she wants to defund the police. And they always go back to their original plot. They always do,” added Trump.

While Harris did voice support for “defund the police” during a June 2020 radio interview, she later reversed her stance after becoming Joe Biden’s running mate.

Trump also recounted surviving an assassination attempt at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and injuring two other Trump supporters.

He shared that members of his Mar-a-Lago golf club contributed to Comperatore’s family, saying, “I said absolutely and they gave me a cheque for a million dollars. That’s a lot of money. Maybe even more impressively, we put out a GoFundMe and raised over $6 million for the group that got hurt, which is essentially three people.”

Recollecting a meeting with Comperatore’s widow, Helen, he tried to inject humor into the tragedy: “So they’re going to get millions of dollars, but the woman, this beautiful wife, I handed her the cheque – we handed her the cheque – and she said, ‘This is so nice, and I appreciate it, but I’d much rather have my husband.’ Now, I know some of the women in this room wouldn’t say the same.”

As laughter erupted from the dinner guests, Trump quipped: “I know at least four couples. There are four couples, Governor [Abbott], that I know and you’re not one of them. At least four couples here would have been thrilled, actually.”

The event reportedly raised $12 million for Trump’s campaign, but it was not enough to prevent Harris from raising more than four times as much as her opponent in August, the first full month of her White House bid.

With inputs from agencies