23 February 2018•Update: 23 February 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump again likened U.S. immigrants to snakes Friday, drawing jeers from a jubilant conservative gathering, in a scene reminiscent of some of the lowest points in human history.
The president read lyrics from, The Snake, that recounts a tale of a woman who taks a snake clinging to life into her home. In the 1960s R&B song by Al Wilson, the unnamed woman cares for the serpent, bringing it back to health only to be bitten.
The snake then chides her, saying "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in."
The song was a favorite of Trump's on the campaign trail as he touted a then-proposed immigration crackdown. He brought it back during a campaign-style rally 100 days into his presidency as his administration worked to curtail immigration from Muslim countries.
Trump has since gone on to remove immigration protections from a wide array of people, including those brought to the country illegally as children, and those who were granted protected status due to disasters in their home countries.
Before reading The Snake, Trump explicitly told the audience to "think of it in terms of immigration.
"If you say 'isn't that terrible', who cares?" he asked rhetorically. "That's what we're doing with our country folks. We're letting people in and it's going to be a lot of trouble. It's only getting worse."
