PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) \u2014 Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day after Harris<\/u><\/a> discussed immigration<\/u><\/a> at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for \u201cerasing our border.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to liberate the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people<\/u><\/a> who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as \u201cpoisoning the blood of the country\u201d and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show<\/u><\/a> Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris\u2019 father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden\u2019s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wonder where the fly came from,\u201d he said. \u201cTwo years ago, I wouldn\u2019t have had a fly up here. You\u2019re changing rapidly. But we can\u2019t take it any longer. We can\u2019t take it any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump repeatedly brought up Harris\u2019 Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push<\/u><\/a> to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden\u2019s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump\u2019s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump \u201cprefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had to sit there and listen\u201d to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. \u201cAnd who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It\u2019s all lies. Everything she says is lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as \u201cmentally impaired\u201d and a \u201cdisaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy<\/u><\/a> that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were \u201ctwo very different visions for our nation\u201d and voters see it \u201cevery day on the campaign trail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDonald Trump is the same old tired show,\u201d she said. \u201cThe same tired playbook we have heard for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Trump\u2019s event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate\u2019s arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate\u2019s tattoos indicate he\u2019s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons<\/u><\/a> and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Teynor stressed to the crowd that Coronel Zarate is the only Venezuelan gang member his agency has encountered, but the violence his two alleged victims suffered at his hands earlier this month was very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans including U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Orden told the crowd Trump was the only one who could restore order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to see the one man who has enough strength and courage of conviction to stand up to anyone up to and including being shot in the head for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n