Trump's Mexico Trip Was 'Political Whiplash'
Mexicans angry at their president over visit
By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff
newser.com
(NEWSER) – Donald Trump had what the AP calls "political whiplash" after a Wednesday that involved a speech in Mexico where he softened his tone on immigration, and a fiery speech in Arizona where he ratcheted his rhetoric back up again, vowing that there will be no legal pathway to citizenship for people in the country illegally—and that Mexico will pay for a "beautiful" border wall. A round-up of coverage:
NPR fact-checks Trump's Arizona speech and finds a number of inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and exaggerations. Among them: His claim that immigration is occurring at a record pace, when in reality more Mexican immigrants left the US than arrived between 2009 and 2014, and his assertion that Syrian refugees are arriving with "no paperwork," when they go through an extensive screening process.
The Washington Post reports that Trump's visit to Mexico, where he held a joint press conference with President Enrique Peña Nieto, angered and baffled many Mexicans. Radio host Sergio Sarmiento says hundreds of calls to his show have all been negative and the visit is going to do nothing to help the president's plunging popularity. Other commentators said the visit had "humiliated" Mexico—and predicted, correctly, that Trump would strike a very different tone in Arizona.
The difference between the two Trump speeches "was so jarring that his true vision and intentions on immigration were hard to discern," writes Patrick Healy at the New York Times. The Mexico trip was a gamble, but it isn't clear if it will win over any undecided voters, or if core Trump supporters will stand by him after a shift away from a deportation-focused policy, he notes.
In the US, Latino Trump supporters do exist, but there are fewer of them after the Arizona speech, Politico reports. "I was a strong supporter of Donald Trump when I believed he was going to address the immigration problem realistically and compassionately," says Jacob Monty, a Houston attorney who quit Trump's National Hispanic Advisory Council after the speech. "What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate." He is one of several prominent Hispanic Trump supporters to reconsider their stance after the speech.
After the Mexico trip, Hillary Clinton blasted Trump as a flip-flopper far too unreliable to build personal relationships with foreign leaders, Politico reports."It certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again," she said. "That is not how it works."
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that there now appears to be a new item of Trump campaign memorabilia: A "Make Mexico Great Again Also" hat. Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Jeff Sessions wore the white hats when they introduced Trump in Phoenix. |
