MSNBC
By Amanda Sakuma
July 1, 2015
Even
as a downward spiral drags down his business interests and presidential
ambitions, Donald Trump has ignored virtually every possible chance to
walk back his deeply
offensive remarks about Mexican immigrants. Instead — just like lies —
each time Trump has repeated his most damning assertions, they have only
grown bigger and even more unwieldy.
First
he called Mexicans drug dealers and rapists. Then they were killers,
too. He accused the Mexican government of forcing Univision out of a
broadcasting Miss USA and
Miss Universe. And the sour Macy’s deal today? Trump claims that was
totally his idea. He has suggested that Middle Eastern terrorists have
illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Don’t worry, none of this is
offensive, Trump says, because he “loves the
Mexican people” and “the Latinos love Trump.”
“Would
you take any of that back, or rephrase any of it if you could?” Fox
News host Bill O’Reilly asked at the start of his interview with Trump
on Tuesday night. The
question came after the show played a section of his now infamous
presidential announcement speech.
“No, because it’s totally accurate,” Trump responded.
For
what it’s worth, Trump’s claims are not accurate. Very little
fact-checking is needed to see that his words are both out of touch and
inflammatory. And in a sense,
that’s on par with his reputation. He has branded his entire public
persona as a brash, attention-hungry mogul willing to toe the line of
controversy for a few ounces of free publicity. Trump has teased the
prospect of a presidential run for years, and now
that he’s officially in the race, his time has come to revel in the
attention — whether it be positive or negative.
And
even if general election voters don’t take Trump seriously as a viable
GOP candidate, he’s bound to have a dramatic effect on the framing of
the immigration debate.
It’s an issue already dogging Republicans and one bound to remain a
major issue throughout the 2016 election. When mainstream candidates
take the stage next month for their first-ever primary debate of this
election, it’s likely that Trump will be standing
next to them, fielding the uncomfortable but genuine questions over how
Republicans expect to make inroads with Latino voters in light of the
harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric.
For
some GOP candidates, Trump’s decision to throw political-correctness
into the wind would be welcomed addition to the immigration debate. Any
position against legal
immigration or a pathway to citizenship or subtly divisive rhetoric is
nowhere near as extreme as Trump’s comments. His controversy is now
sucking up all the oxygen on the issue, leaving aside conversation on
the substantive aspects of immigration platforms
that could be seen as problematic come the general election.
Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father is Cuban, even defended the real estate
mogul and condemned NBC Universal for its “political correctness” in
dropping Trump from the
Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. [Disclosure: NBC Universal is the
parent company of msnbc.]
“I like Donald Trump. I think he’s terrific, I think he’s brash, I think he speaks the truth,” Cruz told CNN Tuesday.
Few
2016 presidential candidate in the GOP field have denounced Trump’s
remarks. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose wife is from Mexico and
whose children are Mexican-American,
addressed the issue after a campaign speech in Nevada, notably speaking
in Spanish for those directly impacted to hear, while lost in
translation for others in the base who might not agree.
“I
do not agree with his words,” Bush said in Spanish during a campaign
event in Nevada. “They do not represent the values of the Republican
Party and they do not represent
my values.”
Former
New York Gov. George Pataki came out forcefully against Trump, calling
his remarks clearly “disrespectful.” He also called on his fellow
Republican candidates to
denounce Trump’s remarks, naming each candidate by his or her Twitter
handle on Wednesday in a series of tweets — but leaving out Cruz.
The
silence from the rest of the crowded GOP field has been deafening in
the two weeks since Trump entered the race. It’s an interesting
development considering the direction
that the nation is heading.
A
new study out by the Pew Research Center last week found that the U.S.
Hispanic population has reached a new high of 55.4 million people. While
the rate of the country’s
Hispanic growth has started to cool, Latinos now make up more than 17%
of the U.S. population.
The
growth marks a dramatic shift in the nation’s demographics with
minority groups projected to soon make up the majority of Americans,
forever reshaping U.S. politics
and political parties’ pathways to the presidency. Read the headlines:
Asians and Hispanics are the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the
United States. Larger shares of minority groups are moving to the
suburbs, outpacing white suburban gains. Major
cities are being redefined by their growing immigrant communities.
A
separate Pew study shows, however, what a sticky situation immigration
can be for Republican candidates. Some 63% of Republican voters said
they view immigrants as a
“burden” for sucking up all of America’s jobs, housing and health care.
For
a party trying desperately to shed its disastrous 2012
“self-deportation” platform on immigration, Republicans are still
struggling to take a more welcoming tack toward
a nation of immigrants. Candidates this election cycle have already
seen how much of a balancing act any discussion on immigration can be,
as they attempt to appeal to their base without alienating one of the
fastest growing groups in the country. If Trump’s
devolving controversy is any indication, it’s an issue that will only
continue to be a problem for Republicans — unless they change course.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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