Speaking to a gathering of Libertarians in Las Vegas before headlining an event in Phoenix, Trump repeated his charge that Mexico was sending violent offenders to the U.S. to harm Americans and that U.S. officials were being "dumb" in dealing with immigrants in the country illegally.
"These people wreak havoc on our population," he told a few thousand people attending the Libertarian gathering FreedomFest inside a Planet Hollywood ballroom on the Las Vegas Strip.
In the 4,200-capacity Phoenix convention center packed with flag-waving supporters, Trump took a different view — for a moment — and said: "I love the Mexican people. I love 'em. Many, many people from Mexico are legal. They came in the old-fashioned way. Legally."
He quickly returned to the sharp tone that has brought him scorn as well as praise. "I respect Mexico greatly as a country. But the problem we have is their leaders are much sharper than ours, and they're killing us at the border and they're killing us on trade."
His speeches in both venues were long on insults aimed at critics and short on solutions to the problems he cited. When he called for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the audience in Las Vegas groaned.
In a break from the immigration rhetoric that has garnered him condemnation and praise, Trump asserted that he would have more positive results in dealing with China and Russia if he were president and said he could be pals with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked by an audience member in Las Vegas about U.S.-Russia relations, Trump said the problem is that Putin doesn't respect Obama.
"I think we would get along very, very well," he said.
Trump has turned to victims of crime to bolster his argument that immigrants in the U.S. illegally have killed and raped. In Las Vegas and Phoenix, he brought on stage Jamiel Shaw Sr., a Southern California man whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed in 2008 by a man in the country illegally. Shaw vividly described how his son was shot — in the head, stomach and hands while trying to block his face — and how he heard the gunshots as he talked to his son on the phone.
Shaw said he trusted Trump, and encouraged the crowds in both cities to do the same.
Trump's speeches were filled with tangents and insults leveled at business partners such as Univision and NBC that have dropped him in the wake of his comments that Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime to the U.S. and are rapists. He also directed familiar barbs at other presidential contenders, including Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton ("the worst secretary of state in the history of the country"), news media figures ("lyin' Brian Williams") and President Barack Obama ("such a divisive person"). He called journalists "terrible people."
As Trump lambasted Univision for cancelling its broadcast of the Miss USA pageant, one of his many business enterprises, a group of young Latinos unfurled a banner pointed toward the stage and began chanting insults. They were quickly drowned out by the crowd, and nearby Trump supporters began to grab at them, tearing at the banner and pulling and pushing at the protesters. Security staff managed to get to the group and escorted them out as Trump resumed speaking.
"I wonder if the Mexican government sent them over here," he said. "I think so."
Arizona's tough-on-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio introduced Trump in Phoenix after outlining the things he and the candidate have in common, including skepticism that Obama was born in the United States. He went on to criticize the federal government for what he called a revolving door for immigrants, saying many of them end up in his jails.
"He's been getting a lot of heat, but you know, there's a silent majority out here," Arpaio said, borrowing from a phrase Richard Nixon popularized during his presidency in a speech about the Vietnam War.
A single protester standing outside the room where Trump spoke in Las Vegas was more concerned about the businessman being tied to the Libertarian Party.
"I've been a Libertarian for 43 years and Trump ain't no Libertarian," said Linda Rawles, who asserted that including Trump in FreedomFest set back the party's movement.
Pierceall reported from Las Vegas.
Lets hear it from Mr. Humble :
Thanks Trump, you have ensured a Hillary victory. Republicans won't get any Hispanic votes except for the few Uncle Toms(don't know how to say in Spanish). Trump has exposed republicans as the same old bag of racists they are.
Trump put his own money up, therefore he is his own lobbyist, what lobbyist do when they pay for presidential campaign? They want their money back once they get into white house to recover their investment, but it won't happen
Trump is a showman who wants attention. Does not have the temperament to be president. Leave him in real estate.
What Republican Leaders Have To Say About Donald Trump?
“Why didn’t Jeb Bush, whose wife is Mexican and whose children are Mexican-American, be livid about this and come out swinging immediately?” Felix Sanchez, head of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, told CNN last week.
“Why didn't [Marco] Rubio and [Ted] Cruz look at this and say ‘We’re Cuban but this is a Mexican-American community, let’s align with the Mexican-American community…and go after this issue?”
People defending Trump:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX):
Rep. Steve King (R-IA):
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ):
The Republican National Committee:
Hours after Trump made the initial statement, Republican National Committee Director Sean Spicer said his statements were “not helpful to the cause” of making the Republican Party inclusive to Latino voters.
Party officials have not offered an official apology.
People with mixed feelings about Trump:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY):
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA):
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA):
People condemning Trump:
Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL):
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL):
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX):
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC):
Former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY):
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R): “I think he made a severe error in saying what he did about Mexican-Americans,” Romney said on Saturday, during the same Fourth of July picnic attended by Jindal and Bush. Romney’s father is Mexican, though the former presidential candidate previously promised to make life so miserable that undocumented immigrants would “self-deport.”
Just my humble opinion
The Roving Reporter G.
go to wag
ReplyDeletelove witchy