President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview that some extremists might be influenced by “genetics.” He connected this comment to two attacks this week in Virginia and Michigan that authorities are looking into as terrorism or targeted violence.
In remarks shared on Friday, Trump told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that the attackers were “just bad” and that “their genetics are not exactly your genetics.”
These comments followed a deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and an attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Reuters reported that the FBI is treating the Old Dominion shooting as terrorism and the synagogue attack as targeted violence against the Jewish community.
At Old Dominion, authorities identified the gunman as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former National Guard member with a prior terrorism conviction for supporting the Islamic State. One person died, and two others were injured before the attacker was stopped.
Trump on terrorists: “They’re just bad. Something wrong. There’s something wrong. Their genetics are not exactly your genetic. It’s a terrible thing. And it happens. And it happens.” pic.twitter.com/mO80s7v05m
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 13, 2026
In Michigan, authorities reported that Ayman Ghazali drove a truck into Temple Israel and its preschool, causing a fire and injuring a security officer before he was shot dead. Reuters noted that the FBI was investigating this incident as an attack on the Jewish community.
Trump did not provide any evidence for his genetics claim and his comment continues a trend where he links criminal behavior or violence to heredity. During the 2024 campaign, Reuters reported that Trump mentioned “a lot of bad genes” in the United States when talking about immigrants accused of violent crimes.
The White House did not immediately respond to criticism of Trump’s remarks, at the time of writing this report. However, the administration has consistently defended the president’s comments on immigration and security as aiming to enhance public safety.
These remarks came just days after the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported logging 8,683 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints in 2025, the highest number since it started tracking data in 1996. CAIR connected this number partially to the policies and language of the Trump administration.
Old Dominion terrorist Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was released from prison early – despite admitting to helping plot attack against US https://t.co/JGRfUEGFJt pic.twitter.com/dm5ayId8pY
— New York Post (@nypost) March 13, 2026
Jewish and Muslim communities across the United States are feeling uneasy amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. According to Reuters, the recent incidents in Michigan and Virginia happened during a time of increased domestic security concerns linked to this conflict.
Trump has frequently talked broadly about “radical Islamic terrorism,” both during his first term and after returning to office. However, his latest remarks went further by suggesting that extremist violence might be inherited, a claim that gained attention for linking biological language to a religiously identified group.
This comes after a UN watchdog recently stated that they are ‘disturbed’ by the president’s “racist hate speech” and criticized the immigration crackdown.
