CNN guest and political analyst Margaret Hoover called out GOP candidate Donald Trump's rhetoric as not only xenophobic, but unprecedented, according to Media Matters.
Hoover debated political writer Jeffrey Lord, who denied that Trump was xenophobic by pointing out that Trump is "the grandson and son of immigrants and married to an immigrant." Lord said Trump is talking about "illegal" immigration, not immigrants as a whole.
Hoover didn't buy that explanation, answering, "It's just that's hard though, Jeffrey, when you say, you know, you've got to build a wall, the Mexicans are rapists, keep all the Muslims out. You know this is rhetoric that is xenophobic rhetoric, and that's -- I'm not calling everyone that supports him a xenophobe, but the real case is that he has hit a strain with the number one immigration issue: economics and immigration."
Hoover then pointed out that Trump is talking about more than immigration reform or border security.
"But Donald Trump says get them all out, build a big wall, then you create a big beautiful door, have them come back through," she said. "I mean this is just rhetoric that is unparalleled in American history, frankly, for the GOP nomination."
Hoover then told host Chris Cuomo that Trump is galvanizing the party, but the candidates who appeal to moderate Republicans are crowding their space and some need to drop out for a potential challenger to emerge.
Watch the interview, as posted by Media Matters, here:
