The head of the Republican National Committee, responding to demands from increasingly worried party leaders, spent nearly an hour Wednesday on the phone with Donald Trump, urging the presidential candidate to tone down his inflammatory comments about immigration that have infuriated a key election constituency.
The call from Chairman Reince Priebus, described by donors and consultants briefed on the conversation and confirmed by the RNC, underscores the extent to which Trump has gone from an embarrassment to a cause for serious alarm among top Republicans in Washington and nationwide.
But there is little they can do about the mogul and reality-television star, who draws sustenance from controversy and attention. And some fear that, with assistance from Democrats, Trump could become the face of the GOP.
Rather than backing down from his comments about illegal immigrants — whom he characterized as rapists and killers, among other things — Trump has amplified his remarks at every opportunity, including in a round of interviews Wednesday.
He insisted to NBC News that he has “nothing to apologize for” in his repeated remarks about Mexicans. But he also predicted that, if he secures the GOP nomination, “I’ll win the Latino vote.”
So the Dump Trump and Trump Trump crowd grows even larger. What an embarrassment. Trump is not only an embarrassment about immigration–he is an all-around embarrassment on pretty much all topics. He is an egotist and a blow-hard. He is, above all, un-presidential.
Meanwhile, the more interviews Trump gives, the more Republicans cringe. Unless Trump is contained, the Republicans are pretty much guaranteeing that they won’t retake the White House for decades, if ever. Isn’t there a way that political parties can filter out people who are simply unsuitable to run under their banner?
First off, I don’t consider him a contender. Trump has high name ID, and he’s saying some things that need to be said, but perhaps not in a manner in which they should be said. I’ve never trusted his Republican creds, because he’s long been known to support democrats financially.
One thing I find comical is while the press is trying to destroy trump over his comments regarding illegal immigration, Hillary Clinton, Diane Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer all get a pass for condemning sanctuary cities today, when they cheerleaded them in the past. Feinstein actually signed the law forbidding SFPD from cooperating with ICE, and now she calls it a “dangerous policy”. Hillary? She has set new standards for dishonesty and hypocrisy, which is tough to do when we’re discussing politicians. If she is the eventual Democratic nominee, it will speak volumes about the Democrat Party, and if she’s elected, volumes about the state of our nation.
Say what you will about “the Donald”, he doesn’t say things out of political expediency.
It should be illegal to “ignore” ICE. This business works both ways.
Are we talking about Trump or Clinton? That looks a bit like a deflection to me.
I am waiting for those Latin votes Trump thinks he is going to get.
Trump has the comic factor. I don’t think the deflectors are the least bit funny.
I think the Trump is running cover for the democrats by being a troll. He was a Democrat until just recently and is on record donating to the Clintons and supporting liberal Democrat positions like universal healthcare.
Very few people fully understood 287g but had a lot to say. It put law enforcement in a terrible situation. Regardless of liberal or conservative labels it was simply inappropriate. But it’s easier to broad brush it and blame liberals.
Trump is not a contender and he knows it. I wouldn’t credit him with anything strategic!
@Steve Thomas
Steve, even if he is not a viable candidate, he can be a deal breaker. If he decides to run as an independent, he squashes the Republicans.
Chumps comments have forced the candidates to address a controversial issue.
@ Steve Thomas – the kinds of things Trump is saying are motivated precisely by political expediency. In a crowded field, his calculus is that he can channel anger and ignorance from enough of a bloc of voters to give him mid-double digits in primary fights that may see nearly a score of candidates. This is all about political expediency. He’s not as stupid as his comments. He’s playing an easily manipulated element of what has become the Republican base. As Cargo points out, he is a warmed over Democrat, but he knows where the vulnerable, manipulable, high-probability primary voters are.
i think it’s wonderful that Trump hires undocumented immigrants. Some of his employees even live in our community. They are hard working people trying to realize the American Dream. Trump exemplifies why we need comprehensive immigration reform.
Scout is right on the mark. In a crowded field you need press coverage and the only way to do it is with outlandish actions or rhetoric. This is marketing 101. I’m waiting for the response from the others. Who is going to play Trump the Donald?
Fear this; one or two more stupid and divisive moves by the entitlement class along with a financial or military crisis and Trump will be President. Its not just one thing, but the bundle of things that have started – started – to awaken the silent majority and forced them to look up from their slumber of acceptance of appeasement and go WTF ! Trump understands this and is moving into the No.1 posiiton in the polls – in spite of all the media attempts to stop him. Hey, call him a racist, that should stop him –Not.
@blue
Define “entitlement class” and what stupid moves it’s made lately. Is it the Eastern elite, The Wall Street banksters, or is it a dog whistle for welfare, social security, medicare,etc? Be more specific so we know to whom the label refers and how we’re supposed to fear them and why, if we’re so very fearful, we should choose a blowhard such as Trump. Enlighten us, please.
When a party only has a bunch of dipshits running… point the spotlight on someone like Trump. The Domocrats have Hillary and Bernie. I hear Biden might join so the Democrat debates should be pretty good popcorn material at least.
So Democrats are running Hillary who most do not trust according to polls, Sanders who thinks “women get cervical cancer due to not enough organism” and lunch pail Joe. Good luck with that.
No, it is not wonderful. There are only a few reasons to hire undocumented workers –
substandard pay
substandard working conditions
tax avoidance
or a combination. Many of the construction trades are no longer middle class salaries and can no longer maintain a middle class family.
One issue of note concerning the Anderson Cooper interview of Trump last week. The unfettered-immigration lobby trotted out a study that claims that crime for first-generation immigrant youth is much lower than native-born or second-generation immigrant youth. CNN hammered Trump for ignoring the “fact” that crime rates do not “correlate” with immigration. It seemed like the “facts” were just a little too convenient, so I read one of the studies on my own.
My conclusion is that the study and the way it is being cited are highly flawed:
1) The studies provided statistics about the crime rate of youth, and so they say nothing about violent crimes committed by adult immigrants;
2) The statistics were based on self-reporting (!!!!) of criminal activities by the youths;
3) The crime rate for native-born 16- and 17-year-olds was reported as an incredible 25%. The writing was very dense, so it was difficult to tell which segment of society that this very high crime rate was taken from. I would be very hesitant to extrapolate these results to American youths at large.
In short, the CNN reporting on this was mostly bluster with little substance.
At the end of the day, Trump is still a mouth-flashing buffoon.
Kelly – I think you’d find if you looked at the adult statistics that adult immigrants have lower crime rates also. There are a lot of reasons for this, including that if you and I were illegally in Tegucigalpa, we’d probably be minding our Ps and Qs in order not to bring attention to ourselves. But the data do tend to show that crime within the immigrant community, including illegal immigrants, is lower than among the general population.
Oh what the heck. I just think it’s great that with all the world of media coming down on Trump he still is garnering the majority of the support. Now what does that tell you! I think the silent nation, which was once called America, has had enough. Enough of this PC BS that is stifling free speech from those who may disagree on important points. It’s as if we’ve accepted the rules of the middle east radicals. Soon we won’t dare draw political cartoons for fear of social beheadings. I’d rather go down fighting if the end of our freedoms is near, and Trump appears to be leading that charge, which many seem to agree with.
What does that tell me? It tells me that there are a lot of sheeple out there who just want to hear rhetoric that sounds good to them. They haven’t figured out yet that Trump can’t do half he is blow-harding about.
@Scout
Pure supposition on your part. Show me facts to back up those statements and I might believe it.
Regardless Scout, why would we want to allow ANY MORE possible criminals into our nation?????
Where’s the support for LEGAL immigration from the left? All I ever see is the support for those in the country ILLEGALLY. The people who are getting the crappy end of the stick are the ones spending the time and money to come here legally not those who just swim across a river! Those coming here legally are vetted by our immigration services so that we don’t allow unwelcome types into our midsts. That is the huge difference. The Rio Grande doesn’t care who jumps into it’s waters. Hardened criminals float just as well as anybody else.
The support from the left for legal immigration is some sort of comprehensive immigration reform so that people CAN immigrant legally. As it is, decent, God-fearing human beings will be 105 by the time something changes.
Second Alamo, are you suggesting that we introduce sharks into the Rio Grande?
Then tell Trump to stop hiring them.
Are you against hiring immigrants? How un-PC!
No one who knows anything about this issue contends that the present immigration system is not completely dysfunctional. But there are real-world problems that suggest real-world solutions, and the idea that illegal immigrants are somehow more prone to crime or this or that other negative stereotyping simply distracts us from and prevents getting to the real problems. A functioning system would provide no incentives for illegal entry, because the mechanisms for legal entry would be efficient and user-friendly. They would also provide clear records of who is here and for what purposes and for how long. A functioning system would eliminate any need for immigrants to live in underground, non-regulated back-waters. It would give them full access to the banking system, and give the country full access to them for tax, licensing and other regulatory purposes. All this is much more a function of building better gates than in building better walls and fences.
Immigration is generally a good thing for the recipient nation, if it manages immigration intelligently. We do not do that, at least not in recent decades. Intelligent political action has been an impossibility over the last 10 or 15 years largely because of demagoguery and inflammatory, non-reality based rhetoric that swirls around the issue. Trump is just the latest pol who sees some hope for short-term gain by playing to the baser instincts of the citizens on this point instead of investing in the hard work of designing a good system that encourages immigration and makes it illegal entry undesirable.
Very well stated; comprehensive even!
Add to that a president who refuses to enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books. With people like that at the head of the table there will never be a non-dysfunctional immigration system. Better gates are only required if you first have a functioning wall, otherwise the gates are like screen doors on a submarine, totally useless.
So tell me, SA, have any presidents in your lifetime actually “Obeyed” the immigration laws that were on the books?
Which ones specifically do you think Obama violated?
Not violated, unless of course he isn’t truly a citizen, but not enforced the immigration laws. Lets start with keeping those children here instead of returning them to their parents south of the border. Allowing sanctuary cities to freely exist. Trying desperately to provide citizenship to those who did break the written law. Back when the numbers of people were small, who cared, but now it’s getting serious. The impact to the country is becoming noticeable.
1apparently you missed the Bush years. Did you live in Manassas?
He followed the letter of the law regarding the children. He did send some back. Sanctuary cities existed under the previous administration. Not sure if they existed under Clinton or not. I don’t think the numbers are still growing, at least with Latin Americans. Many went back to Mexico because Mexico’s economy improved so much.
“Many went back to Mexico because Mexico’s economy improved so much.” There’s the rub. Legal immigrants intend to stay here and become US citizens, whereas many illegal immigrants have no thought of or need for US citizenship. This is why many don’t try to assimilate, but instead demand that we support their language and culture. A US citizen would feel compelled to fight for this country, their country, whereas the illegals not so much. To them this is like an all expenses paid vacation compared to where they came from with citizenship at the bottom of their things to do list.
I know several immigrants from other countries (none of them Spanish speaking countries) who just live here as legal residents. They don’t want to become citizens. I wouldn’t assume everyone is longing for citizenship. Some want it, others don’t.
I am going to remind you about the term “illegals.” Choose another term please.
Many first generation immigrants don’t assimilate, legal or illegal. They don’t speak the language and they are comfortable with their own culture. Historically, this has generally been the case.
I think we can count on Second Alamo to accurately channel the attitudes that have prevented any meaningful improvement in US immigration mechanisms and policies.
One of the hallmarks of successful national economies in this century will be the degree to they remove barriers to movement of capital and labor inputs generally. Specifically, in competition with other major economies, the US needs to formulate policies that attract immigrants from all economic strata, from unskilled laborers to scientists, engineers and medical doctors. It doesn’t take too many Second Alamos out and about in the political system to keep timorous politicians and government officials from putting the United States in a position to win what is essentially a global competition for new productive citizens in all walks of life.
@Kelly_3406
Kelly – this is a good recent summary of data on comparative crime rates between immigrants and natives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/
One of the most interesting things about this summary is the data point that crime rates increase as assimilation increases – the low crime rates of immigrants, particularly illegals, when compared to native-borns, begin to equalize as immigrants become more like the rest of us.
Great Scout! Eventually we can proudly state that we lead the world in landscapers. I think we’ve met our quota. How about some educated immigrants that can fill some of those higher level jobs and contribute more to the US economy.
“I think we can count on Second Alamo to accurately channel the attitudes that have prevented any meaningful improvement in US immigration mechanisms and policies.”
Sorry but I’ve not seen one indication that you make enforcing the existing immigration laws a priority. Lets do that first, and then we can figure what to do in the interest of speeding up LEGAL immigration. Illegal immigration is just that, illegal for now.
Apparently you have missed the thousands of workers here doing professional jobs from INdia and Pakistan? If I were going to get upset about someone taking American jobs, I would start there.
I don’t think lawn care workers are taking away jobs that the average American want to do. Those project workers are here legally….so I am not sure that “legal” is all its cracked up to be.
@Scout
A quick perusal shows this was not one of the Fact Checker’s better analyses. The GAO report did not seem to agree with Kessler’s conclusions:
1) 43% of all people arrested for terrorism in the U.S. were criminal aliens;
2) 63% of criminal aliens have been arrested more than 5 times;
3) About 50% of criminal aliens had been arrested at least once for assault, robbery, homicide, sex offense, or kidnapping.
4) 75% of arrests took place in California, Arizona, and Texas.
5) 90% of convictions were for immigration and drug related offenses.
These facts taken together make me suspicious of the low crime rates found in other studies. It suggests that a majority of those incarcerated for non-violent offenses was arrested for, but not convicted of, violent offenses. Why were so many convicted for the lesser offense? Does this indicate a low conviction rate for violent crimes committed by criminal aliens? Were the low crime rates found in other studies derived by averaging the large number of crimes found regionally (Az, Ca, Tx) over the entire US?
These studies indicate a lot of uncertainty regarding the crime rates of non-citizens, and in particular, crimes committed by illegal aliens, which really were not addressed in ANY of the studies. Kessler is usually pretty careful about his assessments, but this one is just plain wrong. He failed to prove that Trump was lying or even stretching the truth.
I think those figures are so bogus. What are we calling a “criminal alien?” Are we calling them criminals just because they are here without proper documentation?
If so, that is very misleading.
Quite right, SA. I think the existing laws are completely inadequate to the Nation’s needs. They don’t work and they are inherently unenforceable. They need to be changed and the sooner we do it, the better the security and economic interests of the country are served.
@ Kelly: Sorry you didn’t like having the facts checked.
I’m not sure how you’re using the term “criminal aliens”, but I don’t think it should surprise anyone that the terrorism threat to the US is largely foreign based and that terrorists are criminals. Until you define what you mean by a “criminal alien”, I can’t make heads or tails of your other statistics. Nonetheless, I think the Fact Checker material I linked was current, balanced, and nuanced. As to your point 5), if you’re saying that illegal immigrants are criminals because they entered illegally, then we are dealing in tautologies and your 90% figure is meaningless. Kessler’s summary acknowledged the point that some illegal entrants are being used for drug smuggling – I think we all understand that. That seems to fortify my point that making the entry process more user friendly would significantly improve our immigration benefit profile.
I don’t think there is anyone who has looked at immigration issues seriously who has any doubt that the problems of illegal immigration have nothing to do with an inherent criminal propensity among immigrants, legal or illegal. The problems are that the entry process deters legal entry, encourages illegal entry, and results in an underground, difficult to monitor and regulate economy where uninspected entrants don’t use the banking system, pay millions of dollars in taxes for which they get no benefit or refund, cannot lawfully operate motor vehicles (at least in some jurisdictions) and thus are off the competency testing and insurance radars. To the extent that crime does occur within that cohort, there are inhibitions on reporting and cooperation with local law enforcement. All that is negative. We desperately need revisions in the overall immigration process that make the US an enticing place for immigrants, particularly at the high end of the education spectrum, make attaining citizenship or at least long-term residency easy for the most valuable skills we need, and short-term, regulated presence easy for skills that we need on a seasonal or short term basis. But it has become politically difficult to have that kind of policy development because of everyone running around screaming about counter-factual stereotypes based on the unskilled end of the labor spectrum.
Yes, our immigration laws are “inherently unenforceable.” That is especially true when you have enforcers who fail to do their duty by enforcing said laws.
I don’t think that the policy wonks are out doing the grunt work. Policy of an agency also might not be codified.
I would posit that you all are focused on the wrong thing: Donald Trump. What should get your acute attention is the large and bubbling cauldron of impatience and anger aimed at politicians on both sides of the aisle because of a federal betrayal on immigration control. Trump is playing that piano for votes just like the Dems play the La Raza keyboard on the other side for votes. Same same.
Something else to remember is that those expressing that impatience and anger and grasping at Trump as a possible rider on a white horse for redress against the central government don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone on this blog thinks about it. Or anyone else for that matter.
In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of very pissed citizens out there. The national schism grows wider on yet another front.
You could pretty much make the same case about Hitler showing up at the right moment to a bunch of very pissed off Germans in the 30’s
I also have found out that much of the citizenry doesn’t know a great deal about immigration and laws. It’s basically mostly dislike of foreigners, especially Hispanics and some people aren’t too shy about admitting it.
Supposedly, that is what the Tea Party was all about also…pissed off people. Where did it get them?
The world has changed with the US being in the forefront of a global economy and global trade – what WE have not done is change how our nation works as far as immigration and tax collection to work in that new paradigm. We need to change our immigration system and tax code – but alas, we do not work on either – our Congress continues to create faux crisis after faux crisis.
I like that Pat has enlarged the point to bring in the tax code. That important body of law is as inadequate to the needs of the country as are our immigration laws and policies. The world is changing very rapidly. Members of Congress spend most of their time and energy shaking down people for funding for the next campaign or trying to get in front of a TV camera with this or that meaningless inanity.
There are lots of angry citizens on both sides of the political aisle. Bernie Sanders’ is on the other side of Trump.
Excellent point, Starry.
@Moon-howler
“Supposedly, that is what the Tea Party was all about also…pissed off people. Where did it get them?”
Candidates in office.
@Scout
The term “criminal alien” was defined in the studies that Kessler’s linked, as are the statistics that I quoted. The point is that if you study these reports, it is not at all clear (to me) that Trump was wrong. Read the reports where “criminal alien” is defined and then tell me if you think Kessler is “current, balanced, and nuanced.” I think he cherry-picked data from these contradictory reports.
If someone steals, rapes, mugs, etc, then I agree, he or she is a criminal. However, I don’t think for one minute every illegal immigrant steals or whatever it was the study cited that they did. I have known too many immigrants who keep a low profile and work hard. These people aren’t all thieves.
My job forced me to know many, many illegal immigrants. I didn’t find those statistics even valid.
Neither I, nor any of the studies I quoted, said that all illegal aliens are criminals. They are all lawbreakers, however. My hypothesis is that when an entire group willingly and knowingly commits an infraction (i.e. illegal border crossing), then that group likely contains a larger percentage of criminals than would be expected from legal immigrants. There is nothing in any of these studies that can disprove my hypothesis because most of them combine statistics for legal and illegal immigrants.
Looking at the daily incident reports for Prince William County seems to tell a different story.
Looking at the PWCPD reports also tells a different story.
We are all lawbreakers, Kelly, at some level If the economic situation were reversed, and our kids lacked food, education, and opportunity that were abundant in Mexico or Guatemala, I’d certainly go and do what I had to do. If you said, no, I’m a law and order guy so I’m going to let my kids starve, I wouldn’t think better of you.
People cross illegally because we don’t have systems in place that facilitate their crossing legally. Any place in the world where there are large economic and/or human liberty disparities on either side of a common border will see a lot of migration. The question is how does one manage it for the benefit of the recipient country (in this particular case, the United States).
It’s been going on since man first walked the earth–looking for better opportunity, more food, bigger game. Whatever was desirable. People migrated. It wasn’t just because they wanted to do “walkabout.”
@Scout
Having systems in place to facilitate legal crossings will not necessarily reduce illegal immigration all that much. Presumably a new immigration system would still place LIMITS on legal permanent immigration and guest workers. Those that have to wait may be tempted to cross illegally. Plus those with criminal records and communicable diseases may not follow the rules either. Second, there is money to be made from illegal immigration. Employers can pay them less and deny benefits/worker’s rights and therefore improve profits.
I think the idea of starving masses escaping indescribable poverty is hyperbole used to guilt the unwitting. Illegal immigration is much reduced/reversed during US economic downturns, which suggests a definite lack of desperation.
No, it suggests that my premise is correct – that economic (or liberty) disparity on a common border spawns migration. Where the differential is reduced, the migration decreases. We see this everywhere in the world and throughout human history. It’s axiomatic. The migration will happen. There are both positive and negative effects in any immigration scenario, for the recipient country, for the country being exited and for the immigrants themselves. The smart countries learn how to harness it up so that it’s positives are maximized and its negatives are minimized. The US has historically been a net beneficiary and, in gross, macro terms continues to be a net beneficiary, even from the illegal immigration. But the negatives are not trivial, and our paralysis about revamping our system will leave us in the dust vis-a-vis other developed nations and many of the up-and-coming economies.
@Scout
You have an incredible mastery of the obvious. Of course there is economic disparity across the border. The question is whether the disparity is so great that the U.S. has a moral obligation to allow migration to prevent suffering and starvation. The slowdown of illegal immigration during economic downturns shows that there is no great suffering/desperation on a broad scale.
I don’t think there are benefits to the U.S. from illegal immigration except to corporations that pay sub-standard wages. We should use the National Guard to seal the border before worrying to much about new and improved immigration system.
I think just turning out high school graduates makes the world a better place. I thought they would never get through the A’s at my granddaughter’s graduation a couple years ago. Then I caught myself. This is a good thing.