In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Rudy Giuliani tried to sell as fact that Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is actually backing off of one of his most controversial proposed immigration policies: mass deportations.
He said that:
” [Trump] would find it very, very difficult to throw out a family that has been here for 15 years and they have three children, two of whom are citizens. That is not the kind of America he wants.”
Uh, I’m pretty sure that’s EXACTLY what he wants to do, Rudy.
While some in the Trump camp have insisted that Trump is backing off his incendiary and often racist approach to immigration, the evidence simply doesn’t back that up.
Trump’s long-awaited immigration policy speech in Arizona last week just repeated the illogical and ignorant positions he’s held for a year: that he’s going to build a wall along the Mexican border (and make them pay for it), and deport the millions and millions of “illegal immigrants” currently living in the United States.
Doesn’t sound like he’s softening at all, actually. And Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake wasn’t buying it, either.
“It just really doubled down on a lot of the rhetoric that he used before, and it really didn’t explain with any clarity where he’s going to move ahead in the future.”
To which Trump responded (via Twitter, of course):
The Republican Party needs strong and committed leaders, not weak people such as @JeffFlake, if it is going to stop illegal immigration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2016
If Rudy Giuliani and the other Trump surrogates are trying to convince us that Donald Trump is changing at all, they’ve got quite the uphill battle.
Trump’s running mate Governor Mike Pence and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway spent last week and this weekend trying to dodge questions or give neutral answers about Trump’s antics last week.
Labor Secretary Tom Perez, a Clinton supporter, was quick to point out the hypocrisy:
“If you’re trying to get kinder and gentler, it’s a curious strategy to get Joe Arpaio to introduce you at a speech… He stands for what Donald Trump stands for, and that is, Mexicans are ‘rapists.'”
So Rudy, does that sound like Trump’s position on immigration and deportation has softened at all? Because it doesn’t sound like anyone believes you.
If you missed Trump’s speech, here it is:
Feature image via Youtube screengrab.
