'Disgusting': Latest Trump rant leaves Morning Joe hosts reeling

Donald Trump recently intensified his attacks on immigrants by suggesting they had "bad genes" that made them more likely to commit violent crimes — and the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" were left disgusted.

The former president has made immigration the centerpiece of each of his campaigns, and he told conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt on Monday that migrants were genetically predisposed to criminal violence, which he often describes in graphic detail on the campaign trail despite abundant evidence that immigrants are no more likely to commit crime than native-born Americans.

"Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they're now happily living in the United States," Trump said. "You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it's in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now."

Trump continues to double down on rhetoric that alarms many, and he passed up a chance to speak with undecided voters by appearing on "60 Minutes" and instead appeared on Fox News Monday, where he declined an opportunity to walk back some of his authoritarian statements.

"He was interviewed by Laura Ingraham, who asked him if he was going to assure people that he would respect the rule of law," said "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough.

"She said, a lot of people think you're going to lock up political opponents and, you know, suggests there's been a story in the New York Times, people in the media, suggesting you're going to lock them up. Basically, you're not going to do that, are you? He said, 'Well, basically, yeah, a lot of people want me to do that – they think it's a good idea.'

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"She pushed back, she's done that two times. Sean Hannity has done it on the dictator comment, and they keep saying, you're not really going to do this, are you? He goes on and says, yes, he is, and that's what he is doing – speaking to the echo chamber, a dark conspiratorial echo chamber."

"We'll get to it, but also sounding very much, you know -- how do you say it?" Scarborough added. "He is talking about genes, that immigrants have bad genes. It's kind of fascist. I think the Nazis talked about that."

Co-host Mika Brzezinski recoiled from Trump's remarks as she segued into a commercial break.

"We'll have more about those disgusting comments, as well as Kamala Harris, more from '60 Minutes,' when we're back in a moment," she said.

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