President Donald Trump engaged in deeply disturbing rhetoric about immigrants on Wednesday at a Cabinet meeting on immigration, echoing some of the worst and most dangerous language he used on the campaign trail.

"We're taking people out of the country, you wouldn't believe how bad these people are," he said. "These aren't people, they're animals."

Denying the humanity of certain groups — as well as wildly exaggerating their rates of committing crimes, as the president frequently does — is a rhetorical technique often used to promote racist and bigoted ideas.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly read a poem at his rallies called "The Snake." He used the image of the snake as a metaphor for the supposed danger that refugees posed to the United States, despite little evidence to back up this fear-mongering. Many pointed out at the time and this dehumanizing rhetoric was disgraceful and dangerous, as it unnecessarily stokes fears about foreigners and can serve to justify hate crimes.

Watch the clip below: