Former Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera expressed that he would deliver a blow to Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s face due to his “draconian” stance on immigration.
“You see, I’m now an elderly man, having been a boxer my entire life,” Rivera, aged 81, shared during an MSNBC interview on The Beat this past Wednesday.
“I’ve stepped away from it due to my frailty, but I’d make an exception to hit Stephen Miller in the nose because his policies are the most appalling.”
Miller was instrumental in shaping President-elect Donald Trump’s most severe immigration policies during his initial term. Serving as a senior advisor, he played a key role in enforcing a travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries with questionable security verification policies and a strategy that resulted in the separation of migrant children from their families, a policy that actually began under Barack Obama’s presidency.
Following his victory in November’s presidential election, Trump stated that he intends to reinstate Miller in the White House for another term, this time as homeland security advisor and deputy chief of staff for policy.
Rivera’s comments came in response to reports that the Trump transition team is contemplating a high-profile operation targeting undocumented immigrants in Washington, D.C. during the early days of his second term, a scenario likely to see Miller play an essential role.
A former close associate of Trump, Rivera departed from Fox News in 2023 after a lengthy 23-year tenure with the network.
Throughout that period, he became increasingly vocal against the president-elect for his harsh verbal assaults on immigrants that commenced with his entry into politics, ultimately ending their friendship.
In 2016, Rivera condemned Trump’s views on immigration as “inhumane” and in 2023 forecast that a second term for Trump would result in “brutality” directed at migrants. He also went so far as to label Miller as “Dr. Evil.”
“I don’t know him personally. But he embodies absolute draconian behavior, he is the very definition of it,” Rivera commented about Trump’s aide during his appearance on MSNBC this Wednesday.
He further asserted his belief that Miller “does not seek to solve” immigration issues but instead aims to “scapegoat specific groups that he believes will garner positive attention for President Trump.”
The Beat host Ari Melber interjected to highlight that the show’s team “does not support any form of violence,” while pointing out that Rivera may have utilized rhetoric similar to the brutality often associated with Trump.
Rivera chuckled.
