Bill “The Butcher” Cutting—Daniel Day-Lewis’s one-eyed, knife-wielding villain in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York—shares Trump border czar Tom Homan’s nativism and ruthless take on American nationalism. Both believe that the United States belongs to certain people and, more importantly, that it should be closed to undesirable groups. Both are more than happy to destroy the country they profess to love so others can’t lay claim to it. Unlike Homan, Bill the Butcher is charismatic, complex, and in possession of a twisted kind of integrity. Regardless, they don’t just share a vision of a nation forged in blood—they sound an awful lot alike.
TNR Quizzes
Who Said It: Border Czar Tom Homan or Bill “The Butcher” Cutting?
They’re both nativists with bloody visions of American patriotism. Can you tell them apart?
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