Announcing for president June 16, 69-nine-year-old real estate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump rocked the GOP landscape, ripping illegal Mexican immigrants for being murders and rapists. Once viewed as a “carnival barker,” Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric won him traction in a crowded 2016 Republican presidential field. Hitting a raw nerve with GOP faithful in 2008 and 2012, Trump relentlessly whipped up the “birther” issue, accusing President Barack Obama of forging his birth certificate, rendering him ineligible for president. When Obama produced his Honolulu birth certificate Aug. 21, 2008 and again April 27, 2011, Trump played to the ubiquitous paranoid audience, believing nothing that the government tells you. Trump turned his pandering to xenophobic elements of the Republican Party, promising to stop illegal immigration from Mexico.
Early in the GOP race, Trumps found a reliable way to make headlines, knowing that some publicity is better than no publicity. “So you have the illegals come in and the illegals kill their children, and we better get smart in the United States,” Trump told reporters at the famous Beverly Hilton Hotel. Announcing for president June 16, Trump went overboard. “Sending people that have lots of problems . . . they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” said Trump, prompting racist calls from his liberal critics. Whether vilified or not, Trump directs his message to the ever-shrinking white majority, watching much of the country, especially in border states, give way to illegal immigrants. Cutting ties with Trump’s show “The Apprentice,” Univision, NBC and Macy’s put their feet down. Ripping Mexicans with sweeping generalizations makes Trump look like a clown.
Trump’s short-lived rise in the polls stems largely from his notoriety, commanding the freakish curiosity sought out by an insatiable 24/7 news cycle. Confronting calls that he’s damaging the Republican brand, Trump countered stating the opposite: That he intends to with the Hispanic vote. “Everybody knows that I have great relationships with Mexican people. I have many, many people who work for me who are Mexicans. They’re phenomenal people. I love them. They’re enormously talented. I have great respect for the country of Mexico,” Trump tried to backtrack on his incendiary remarks, especially after CNN reported July 8 that he routinely hires illegal immigrants in his real estate construction projects. Trump insisted Latinos would vote for him over Democratic frontrunner former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton because he’d create more jobs.
Like other GOP candidates, they have an uphill battle convincing voters that the economy would perform better with a Republican in the White House. Voters have a short memory but they do recall the Great Recession where the economy shed some eight million jobs under former President George W. Bush. It’s hard to argue against Wall Street’s record bull market, the economy’s historic low unemployment rate, reduced federal budget deficits a slowly rising Gross Domestic Product. Running against President Barack Obama’s improving economy sank the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012. Romney tried to convince voters—against all published metrics—that the economy was running downhill. If Trump continues to rip Obama’s economy, he’ll face the same voter backlash as Romney, losing credibility and looking phony.
Speaking with a straight face, Trump promised that Latinos would vote for his candidacy. “When it’s all said and done I win the Hispanic vote over the Democrat, whoever it may be, probably Hillary Clinton, because I will create jobs for the Hispanics, and nobody else will,” Trump insisted. He knows that jobs have been created at record numbers under the Obama White House, more than 11 million since April 2010. Backtracking on the Mexican issue, Trump claims he directed his critique to illegal Mexicans, not those that come to the state legally. Trump knows that the 15 to 20 million illegal immigrants pay U.S. taxes, especially Medicare and Social Security, without any way of drawing future benefits. Both parties know that if any portion of the illegal population becomes legal, the government’s bill for government largess could go through the roof paying entitlements.
Getting some traction in a period of political doldrums doesn’t mean Trump’s candidacy has longevity. Denounced by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Gov. Rick Perry for having views outside the mainstream, it’s a matter of time before Trump self-destructs. With the first Republican debate slated for Aug. 6, Trumps needs to be in the top 10 to make it to the podium. “It doesn’t help the Republican brand,” said Washington University, St. Louis professor Peter Kastor, referring to Trump’s xenophobic remarks. Trumps early traction stems from rock-ribbed Republicans jaded by the country’s inability to control its borders. Promising to complete a 700-mile border fence, Trump wins the Fox News crowd, looking to rip Democrats and Republicans for showing any interest on immigration reform. “He just has too many weaknesses,” said American Enterprise Institute’s Karlyn Bowman
