LAS VEGAS – Donald Trump traveled to Texas on Friday to speak about border security, a trip that comes as the former president escalates his already dark and apocalyptic rhetoric against illegal immigration in the final stretch of the race.

In Austin, Trump will also speak with Joe Rogan, the most listened to podcaster in the countrycreating a new opportunity for the Republican candidate to emphasize the hypermasculine tone that has defined much of his 2024 White House bid.

The brief foray into Texas is Trump’s first public campaign event in the state since receiving the GOP nomination. His Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, will travel to Texas the same day for an abortion rights rally with superstar Beyoncé. Neither candidate expects Texas, a solidly conservative state, to be competitive, but they are taking their message to voters in battleground states and hoping to influence the more competitive U.S. Senate race.

Trump is speaking in a border state for the second time in two days, emphasizing the importance he places on immigration with early voting already underway in many states. At a rally in Arizona on Thursday, Trump criticized Harris for the Biden administration’s record at the border, which he said had “unleashed” an “army of migrant gangs” that are “waging a campaign of violence and of terror against our citizens.”

“We are like trash to the world,” Trump said, adding a new insult to a litany he has used to describe the state of the nation under the Biden administration.

At an event in Las Vegas later in the day, Trump claimed that cities had been “invaded and conquered” by violent immigrants, adding: “We have a lot of cities that haven’t been infected yet.” » Trump has long echoed tropes on immigration by describing migrants as carriers of disease, dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump calls immigration the issue that won him the White House in 2016. He accuses Harris of perpetrating “a wicked betrayal of America” ​​and of having “orchestrated the most egregious betrayal of any leader in American history has ever inflicted on our people,” even though crime is down.

While migrants have been accused of some high-profile crimes that Trump repeatedly highlights, research has shown that immigrants – including those who entered the country illegally – are accused of fewer violent crimes than American citizens.

He also spread false theories that Democrats would register immigrants without legal status to vote.

While Harris was visiting Houston, Trump and his allies made illegal immigration the centerpiece of their response Friday morning. They highlighted the murder of a 12-year-old Texas girl, Jocelyn Nungaray, whose body was found in June. Prosecutors illegally charged two Venezuelan men in the United States with capital murder.

Rogan interview highlights Trump’s emphasis on masculinity

Trump did masculinity a central theme of his campaign, appearing on podcasts targeting young male voters and using surrogates who sometimes use foul language.

At a Trump rally Wednesday, former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson called Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz a “weak man” and likened Trump’s return to the House Blanche to a father who comes home ready to punish his misbehaving children.

“When Dad comes home, do you know what he says?” » asked Carlson. “You have been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now.

Rogan and Trump have a complicated relationship. Rogan previously said he refused to host Trump on his podcast before because he didn’t want to help him.

Earlier this year, Trump criticized Rogan after the podcaster said then-candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was the only candidate running who made sense to him. Kennedy has since suspended his candidacy, supported Trump and joined him on the campaign trail.

“It will be interesting to see how much Joe Rogan gets booed the next time he steps into the UFC ring???” Trump wrote on his social media site in August, referencing Rogan’s experience as an Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator.

The podcaster is known for his hour-long interviews on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” ranked No. 1 in the United States, according to Spotify charts. He calls women “chicks” and once laughed when a comedian friend described repeatedly forcing young female comics to have sex.