Television host Joy Reid advised President Donald Trump on the dangerous precedent he could set if he makes good on threats to deport U.S. citizens.
On Thursday's episode of "The Joy Reid Show," the eponymous host issued a stark warning to Trump: denaturalizing U.S. citizens could lead to the deportation of his Slovenian-born wife, Melania. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.
"If you give the president of the United States monarchical-like powers to say, 'I don't like your views, I don't like your take on issues, I don't that you're too liberal, you're not conservative enough, I'm just gonna take away your naturalized citizenship,' well... if we ever get a Democratic president, they could say, 'I don't like Melania Trump. She wasn't born here. She was born in Slovenia. She is a naturalized citizen. She's outta here,' Reid said while interviewing Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
Reid's comments come on the heels of Trump's threats to deport Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic lawmaker who just won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, and Elon Musk, his former advisor. Both men are U.S. citizens—Mamdani was naturalized in 2018 and Musk became a citizen more than two decades ago in 2002.
On Tuesday, as his feud with Musk reignited over the passage of Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" Trump told reporters he'd "look" at deporting the tech billionaire.
The following day, Trump took aim at Mamdani: "As President of the United States, I'm not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York. Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards," he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. "I'll save New York City, and make it ′Hot′ and ′Great′ again, just like I did with the Good Ol' USA!"
Trump also discussed the possibility of deporting U.S. citizens while touring "Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's newest ICE detention facility, on Tuesday. "They're not new to our country. They're old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too, if you want to know the truth," Trump told reporters.
Reid isn't the only one whose taken Trump to task over his deportation threats. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, South African political commentator Justice Malala said Trump's warnings send "a chill down the spine."
"Democracy is dimming fast in the United States, but threats to deport US citizens for disagreeing with the governing administration's policies are the domain of authoritarian regimes such as Belarus or Cameroon," Malala wrote.
Mamdani himself also commented on the President's threats to deport him, calling them an "attack on our democracy" and "a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you."
Meanwhile, Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to wish a happy July 4th to "Heroic ICE Officers fighting every day to reclaim our Sovereignty and Freedom."
Originally published on Latin Times
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