Donald Trump's anti-immigrant and anti-Latino rhetoric was already a topic at the House of Representatives. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., spoke about Trump and the effect Pope Francis will have during the latter's U.S. visit.

With large images of Trump and Pope Francis next to him, Gutierrez spoke about the differences between the two men.

"On one shoulder, we have a billionaire out there saying Mexicans are murderers, immigrants come to this country to get on welfare, our best days are behind us and just getting tough and insulting people will solve all of our problems and make us great again," Gutierrez said of Trump.

"On the other shoulder is a man who is not afraid to touch the feet of the poor and recognizes their humanity even in their poverty. He is a man who sees actual human problems like our environment and tries to bring us together to do something about it... He does not blame a nation's problems on the strangers at the gate or says get the hell out," said the Democratic congressman about Francis.

According to Gutierrez, the pope is the anti-Trump. "The antidote to his venom," said Gutierrez about Francis and Trump, respectively.

Gutierrez said the U.S. needs a Francis as the country is encountering a political campaign filled with ugly, xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. He further noted the campaign has featured anti-woman, anti-environmental and anti-poor attacks.

Gutierrez defended immigrants, who have been a population under criticism by Trump. The congressman said the pope's message, namely the scheduled visit and address in Congress, will include inclusion instead of division. While acknowledging that he, himself, isn't a perfect individual, Gutierrez stated that he has struggled with his Catholic faith due to his support of a woman's right to legal abortion and LGBT rights. Regardless, Gutierrez said the U.S. "needs" the pope.

"I, like a lot of my Democratic colleagues and a lot of my Catholic colleagues -- and frankly the majority of Americans of all faiths and political stripes across the nation -- are very much looking forward to the Pope's visit and the Pope's words because our nation needs a counter-balance, a counter weight to what has become the ugliest, most xenophobic and most anti-immigration campaign in anyone's memory," said Gutierrez.

Trump has maintained his confidence that he will win the Latino vote, despite immigration reform proposals including mass deportations of 11.3 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S., the end of birthright citizenship -- a 14th Amendment provision that grants U.S. citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, defense of the term "anchor babies," and his altercation with Univision journalist Jorge Ramos.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.