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In recent days, Trump and members of his inner circle have repeatedly invoked the unrest in France to push unsubstantiated claims blaming immigrants for the violence, and rally his MAGA base.
At a midterm campaign rally in Kansas this week, Trump even broadcast footage of the protests, and warned that the United States could become “like France” if Democrats win the elections, and that it is a once-great nation that had been "conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists".
He's also criticised French President Emmanuel Macron, claiming Macron had failed to get the situation under control: “The whole world was coming in, and as you know, Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal,”
Other Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, have echoed claims blaming immigrants for the violence.
But there is no evidence linking the unrest in France to immigration.
France does not collect official statistics on the racial or ethnic backgrounds of people arrested, making it impossible to establish the demographic makeup of protesters detained on those grounds. Nor is there evidence that immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, are responsible for the violence.
It's also important to remember how the protests manifested: demonstrations began with student protests calling for more teachers and improved...
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