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Trump thinks US veterans ‘don’t have cellphones’

Former president complained that migrants at southern border all have ‘good phones’

Kelly Rissman
Tuesday 26 September 2023 11:04 BST
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Trump booed after mentioning Lindsey Graham in South Carolina

Donald Trump claimed that veterans “don’t have cellphones” while speaking at a campaign event in Summerville, South Carolina on Monday.

Mr Trump seemed to be trying to blast President Joe Biden’s handling of the surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border when his speech took an unexpected turn.

The 2024 GOP frontrunner started by discussing migrants, alleging, “Weirdest thing: they come in by the tens of thousands — sometimes by the day — and they all have cellphones. I’m saying, ‘Where do they get the cellphones?’”

“Everybody has a cellphone. They’re all talking on these beautiful cellphones. And they’re expensive ones, too, they’re nice ones,” he continued.

Mr Trump added: “Somebody who’s into that said, ‘Those are good phones,’ and then I say, ‘Who pays their bills?’”

“Do you want to check that?” Mr Trump said, addressing Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene. “I’ll give it to Marjorie, she’ll figure that one out fast,” he said as an aside before circling back. “But do you ever notice, they’re all coming in with cellphones,” he said with his right hand up to his ear, mimicking holding a phone.

“Our veterans don’t have cellphones, do they?” he asked. It’s unclear why the former president claimed that veterans don’t have cellphones.

Still, the former president continued on his rant, accusing Mr Biden of putting “illegal aliens first and everyone first, but he puts America last.”

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