Trump attacks African-origin immigrants at Ohio rally while backing John Husted

President Donald Trump, during an election rally held Monday in Ohio, tried to bolster Senator John Husted's re-election campaign by raising the issue of immigration and targeting two groups of immigrants of African origin, according to the Associated Press.

In his remarks, Trump greeted Republican Representative Max Miller, who was among the audience, publicly thanking him: "Thank you, Max, for coming. Thank you. Very good."

But the focus of Trump's speech was immigration, as he repeatedly directed criticism at the Somali community in Minnesota and on Monday evening linked them to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. He revived accusations he had made in a presidential debate two years ago, and told the crowd that he had been "right," saying his administration's policies had driven some Haitians to leave the country.

Trump said the goal was to prevent "Ohio from being looted, robbed and destroyed, as Minnesota is being destroyed," asserting that they would confront what he described as acts of destruction and, referring to Springfield, said they would "stop it, and we will not allow it to happen."

The Associated Press added that Trump's remarks came amid an election campaign marked by competing efforts to influence support, and that "an organization with ties to Republicans" had begun promoting a socialist candidate instead of the Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown.

Trump's remarks came the same day agents from Homeland Security Investigations searched the Washington home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar. The Justice Department said in a statement that Homeland Security Investigations personnel executed a search warrant obtained by the department under judicial authorization in the Washington area, without providing further details.