From the very beginning of his campaign for president, Donald Trump made illegal immigration his number one issue. He promised to build wall, and he caused quite a controversy last year when he pledged to create a “deportation force” designed to boot the unknown millions of illegals out of the country.
“You’re going to have a deportation force. And your going to do it humanely. And you’re going to bring the country —frankly, you have excellent, wonderful people. fantastic people who have been here for a period of time. Don’t forget you have millions of people that are waiting on a line to come into this country and come in legally. I always say the wall. We’re going to build the wall and it’s going to be a real deal. There’s going to be a real wall. There was a picture in one of the magazines where they’re taking drugs over the wall and built a ramp and the truck is going up and down. The wall is like a highway. It’s not going to happen. It’s going to be a Trump wall. It going to be a real wall. It’s going to stop people and it’s going to be good.”
Trump’s position on illegal immigration was the primary reason he earned the support of so-called conservatives like Ann Coulter–who loved it so much that she tweeted this disgusting comment:
I don't care if @realDonaldTrump wants to perform abortions in White House after this immigration policy paper. http://t.co/l7nq8gN7i5
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) August 16, 2015
A few days ago, I wrote a piece about how Trump had been advised by concerned Republicans to pivot away from the whiny, third-grade, bullying narcissist we have come to know toward a more mature presidential candidate. At the time, I didn’t think Trump was capable of pivoting, but it turns out that I was right . . . and I was wrong.
I was right when I said he wasn’t capable of pivoting away from his non-presidential demeanor, but I was wrong for this reason; he can pivot–or to use an old phrase, he can flip-flop–on key policy issues such as . . . oh, I don’t know . . . immigration.
When asked about immigration issues on CNN’s State of the Union, Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, shot down Trump’s vow to form the deportation force, saying that it is “to be determined.”
The Donald’s pivot on the issue was also discussed with Sen. Jeff Sessions on CBS’s Face the Nation. When he was asked specifically about the deportation force, Sessions—who sold out to Trump early in the campaign and was once thought to be in the running to be Trump’s Vice President—stated that Trump refused to commit to creating the much ballyhooed force.
In a way, this could the what the establishment Republicans wanted when they suggested that Trump pivot. House Speaker Paul Ryan is already on record as opposing deportation and in favor of creating a pathway to citizenship, and Mitch McConnell refused to even discuss immigration after becoming Senate Majority Leader in 2014. Recently, Lindsey Graham announced his intentions of putting the band back together (a.k.a. Gang of Eight).
But that can’t be correct, can it? Trump is the anti-establishment outsider, right?
Oh well. At least he’s not Hillary.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
