Donald Trump baselessly accused Joe Biden of “providing material support for terrorism” during a speech on Friday, alluding to the recent arrest of eight migrants with suspected ties to ISIS.
“So, in addition to all of his other well-documented offenses, crooked Joe Biden is now also guilty of providing material support for terrorism,” the former president told a crowd gathered for an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, to celebrate his 78th Birthday.
Trump vowed the country is going to “pay a steep price for many, many years” over Biden’s border policy.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
The comments were in reference to a recent federal terrorism investigation, in which eight migrants from Tajikistan were arrested over suspected links to the terror group, after previously crossing the US-Mexico border last year and passing security screening.
Federal officials have provided few details about the arrests, though they’ve described the group as containing “several non-citizens,” according to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
A source close to the investigation told CNN the group had been on the radar of officials for over a month. Communications intercepts suggested possible links to ISIS affiliated individuals overseas, prompting the investiation.
The source added that officials aren’t convinced the individuals received training abroad or were purposely sent to engage in violence, but officials felt that expelling the group on immigration violations was a prudent pre-emptive step.
Donald Trump has repeatedly hammered the Biden administration over its border policy, often resorting to racist tropes that paint all migrants, legal and undocumented, as dangerous criminals.
During a recent rally, Trump accused Biden of turning the border into a “dumping ground for the dungeons of the Third World.”
