Trump Suffers Another ‘They’re Eating the Dogs’ Moment
The president appears to believe political asylum seekers are from mental asylums—much to the chagrin of The New Abnormal’s hosts.
Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
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President Donald Trump appeared to conflate political asylum seekers with mental asylums—much to the chagrin of the American people and The New Abnormal’s hosts Danielle Moodie, Andy Levy and producer Jesse Cannon.
Trump appeared to make the mistake on live television Wednesday as he played up his mass deportations and commended “border czar” Tom Homan and ICE Barbie Kristi Noem’s work to secure America’s borders.
Trump still hasn't figured out political asylum and insane asylums are two different things pic.twitter.com/QkrjrVTw4M
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 9, 2025
“They were murderers and drug lords and thieves, and people from prisons from all over the world,” said Trump. He added, “And there were, uh, people from mental institutions, insane asylums. They were taking their mentally insane, and they were dumping them into our country. And I’ll tell you, Tom Homan and Kristi Noman are doing a fantastic job in removing them.”
“It’s giving, they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats,” said Cannon.
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Levy added, “That was my first thought too. For a very long time, I guess I was an asylum truther, would you call it? I didn’t think he was confusing the terms, but I’m coming around. I am definitely coming around.”
The moment reinforces a general rule about Trump, said Cannon: “Anytime you think the better of him, you’re going to usually fail.”
Plus, Noliwe Rooks, professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, explores the uneven effects of school integrations in her new book, Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children.
“My indictment of integration is more an indictment of the resistance to allowing it to actually work,’ explained Rooks about the book. “And let’s be real-eyed and clear-eyed about the fact that most just don’t have access to it.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher (update links).
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