Recommendations of the Editorial team
US President Donald Trump has once again used an event honoring the families of deceased Americans to focus attention on himself. During a speech Monday morning at an event for “Angel Families” – a right-wing term for the families of Americans killed by undocumented migrants – the president lamented that he was “suffering” for the country after a lengthy monologue expressing his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“A Democrat [Wähler] gets three, four, five, six and even seven ballots, and then we should win. That’s what they’re good at – they’re professional fraudsters,” Trump complained to guests gathered at the White House.
“I just think as we get through this, because we got through it together. I suffer for the country.”
Previous incidents of lack of empathy
This is not the first time that Trump has shown a lack of basic empathy by referring to the deaths of others. At an event for Angel Families in 2018, Trump signed photos of the deceased. In 2024, Trump blamed Gold Star Families for the outcry over allegations that he conducted campaign activities at Arlington National Cemetery in violation of the burial site’s rules. Just this month, the president used the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson as an opportunity to congratulate himself on supposed gains among black voters and to attack Barack Obama and other Democrats.
Monday’s event was marked by long, rambling statements from Trump about his election complaints. It is worth repeating that dozens of federal and state investigations have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. And that illegal voting by non-citizens in federal elections is extremely rare.
Complaints about surveys and absurd claims
Throughout the speech, Trump complained about “fake polls” that showed a decline in his popularity. “It just amazes me that there isn’t more support out there,” he said to the grieving families. “We actually have quiet support.”
“If this election hadn’t been rigged, every single person in this room wouldn’t be here right now,” Trump said. And absurdly claimed that the only reason for the loss of relatives was that he was denied a second term in 2020. (Several of the families in attendance had suffered their losses years before Trump even entered politics.)
At the event, Trump declared February 22 National Angel Family Day, the White House said, “a day to remember victims and their grieving families devastated by the consequences of open border policies.”
