CNN Panelist Breaks Down, Claims Trump Aims to Deport Those Who ‘Pick Your Crops’ in Bizarre Rant

CNN commentator Catherine Rampell expressed deep concern over the idea of Republican Donald Trump winning the upcoming election and starting mass deportations of individuals who entered the U.S. illegally.

During CNN’s "News Night" on Wednesday, senior political commentator Scott Jennings stated that Trump’s policies on the economy, trade, and immigration would benefit American workers.

“He’s going to extend the tax cuts. He’s going to rein in the federal government and the overburdensome regulatory state, which he can now do because of the Supreme Court, and he’s going to take on these countries that screw American workers. That’s the plan,” Jennings asserted.

“That’s not the plan. It is not the plan,” Rampell countered, attempting to interrupt Jennings.

Jennings went on to add, “Oh, and by the way, he’s going to crack down on immigration, to the benefit of American workers.”

Rampell, who also writes for The Washington Post, fired back, saying: “He’s going to deport 20 million people. The people who pick your crops. The people who process your meat. The people who, you know, care for your grandmother. The people who serve all sorts of critical functions in this country.”

While it’s a fact that both illegal immigrants and legally admitted seasonal farm workers contribute to U.S. agriculture, it's worth considering that if a conservative pundit made the same argument Rampell did, they would likely be labeled a xenophobic, narrow-minded bigot.

One social media user on X responded to Rampell’s remark by stating, “‘The people who pick your crops’ was literally the argument for slavery.”

Rampell persisted, saying, “Yeah, [Trump’s] going to deport a lot of people and that’s going to worsen the economy.”

“He wants 10 percent global tariffs, which would worsen inflation. He wants to deport 20 million people, which would worsen inflation and reduce growth,” she claimed.

Venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary weighed in, responding to Rampell: “After all that, half of the American population wants that economy back. What do you say to that?”

Rampell responded, “I say we should be talking about what the policies are.”

During his first term, Trump implemented tariffs on various Chinese goods starting in 2018 (some as high as 25 percent), but inflation remained low, finishing at 2.4 percent that year and even dropping to 1.8 percent in 2019 and 1.2 percent in 2020.

Trump has advocated for reciprocal trade policies, meaning that if foreign nations impose tariffs or unfair practices on U.S. goods, they would face the same treatment for their exports to the U.S.

His campaign website emphasizes fair trade deals negotiated by his administration, including the USMCA with Mexico and Canada.

And a reality check for Rampell: Nobody, including Trump, believes that 20 million people will actually be deported.

Trump addressed the issue at a Univision town hall in Miami on Wednesday evening.

The former president was directly asked about the impact of deporting illegal immigrant farm workers: “If you deport these people, who would do that job and what price would we pay for food?”

Trump responded by saying, “We had people coming in under my administration, and they were coming in legally. They were coming in through a system, that we had, which was great.”

He continued, “We have to have a lot of people come into our country. We just want them to come in legally through a system. Because they [the Biden administration] have released hundreds of thousands of people that are murders, drug dealers, terrorists. … Nobody knows who they are, where they come from and the people that are most against it are the Hispanic people.”

Trump concluded that the current administration has “totally lost control” and reiterated, “We’re going to make it so people can come into our country legally.”

So, it’s clear that Trump’s main focus is on deporting the criminal element, and those individuals would be the priority for removal. His running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, echoed this stance during the vice presidential debate earlier this month.

Jennings highlighted the reality of Trump’s agenda, one that the nation has already experienced, while Rampell veered into an alarmist narrative often associated with what’s referred to as Trump Derangement Syndrome.