Former US President Donald Trump sparked widespread criticism for his escalating rhetoric on immigration after he told his supporters that immigrants were "poisoning" the nation's blood.

Trump said, at an election rally in Durham County, New Hampshire: “I think the real number is 15 or 16 million people,” and stressed the need to make a lot of efforts as “they are poisoning the blood of our country,” without giving any evidence of the numbers. He mentioned it, according to the American magazine People.

Congress... Trump's weapon for a more powerful second term

He continued: “This is what they have done. They are poisoning mental institutions and prisons all over the world, and not just in America, and not just in three or four countries that we are thinking of, but all over the world. They are coming to our country from Africa, from Asia.” And from all over the world.”

Trump then quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has previously praised, to support his characterization of the numerous criminal indictments against him as “political persecution.”

Trump added: “Even Vladimir Putin... says that the persecution practiced by Biden shows the rot of the American political system.”

Trump had stated in an interview with Sean Hannity, earlier this month, that he would be a "dictator" for a short period if he won another term in 2024, saying that he would begin his first day in the White House "to close the border" and "drill for... Oil, exploration, exploration,” before he came to his senses as president again.

Trump has made border security a prominent topic in his reelection campaign, blaming President Joe Biden for an increase in illegal border crossings while using increasingly inflammatory language to describe immigrants who lack permanent legal status.

Immigration is one of the most divisive issues as the US presidential elections approach, scheduled for next November.

Despite Trump's controversial comments on the campaign trail — and 91 criminal charges against him that could lead to prison time if convicted — the former president remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Recently, 81-year-old Biden intensified his direct criticism of 77-year-old Trump, describing him as a threat to democracy, while polls show him trailing the real estate tycoon less than a year before the election.