Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump mastered two different agendas on Aug. 31.
Earlier that day, Trump traveled to Mexico and met with President Enrique Pena Nieto. In an attempt to look presidential, he was on his best behavior. He said Mexico was a great friend to the U.S., and when a reporter asked if they discussed the wall he hoped to build along the U.S.-Mexican border after he’s elected president, Trump stunned by saying it wasn’t discussed.
Later, though, Pena Nieto said something to the contrary.
“At the start of my conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall,” he tweeted after the joint press conference.
Hours removed from the meeting after Trump stuck to his script and looked somewhat subdued compared to his usual antics, he was in Phoenix to give a speech on immigration. There, he looked like the old Trump, peddling the same exclusionary policies.
At the cornerstone of his immigration plan, Trump reiterated that a wall would be built with sensors on the top and underground. He swore it would be impenetrable. And to add to his grand idea, he said Mexico would pay for this wall.
“They just don’t know it yet,” he said.
Where was this Trump hours earlier when the Mexican president brought this point up during their meeting?
But that oddity was nothing compared to the other promises he rolled out in the speech. He swore that one hour after being elected, he would have 2 million illegal immigrants rounded up and deported. He also promised that he would form “a new, specialized deportation team” to help him locate all the illegals currently living in America.
According to the Center for Migration and its study released in January, the illegal immigrant population has fallen just below 11 million. Even if Trump had the power and resources to accomplish this feat, what does he think stops border patrol and local law enforcement right now?
His language was incendiary and callous toward the fears and plights of many people who immigrate to the U.S. looking for peace or a better life.
And to put an exclamation point on this divisive speech, he paraded Angel Moms, a group for family members of victims of violent illegal immigrants. As they said the name of their deceased loved one, they all pledged their vote to Trump.
It was a sickening display and frankly vomit-inducing. This wasn’t about consoling the family members who lost loved ones. It was a way to drive his point home. He used others’ grief to feed into the fears of his base.
But more than anything, his speech was devoid of any true American values. America was founded by immigrants for immigrants. This was such a well-known fact that it is etched on one of the biggest icons in the U.S.: the Statue of Liberty.
This is a nation of people who came from other countries, filled with hope and the promise of more opportunities than in their home country.
Trump gave a vivid picture of what the U.S. would look like as soon as he took office, and it’s not the country the Founding Fathers would be proud of.
