Skip to footer

Is Donald Trump backtracking on his criticism of Mexicans?

Donald Trump says he has great respect for Mexico, despite his earlier comments to the contrary.

|
Richard Drew/AP/File
Donald Trump launches his presidential campaign in New York on June 16, 2015.

Donald Trump’s recent comments about Mexican immigrants were widely denounced as insulting, but the presidential candidate maintains he did nothing wrong.

In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Trump insisted that he is "absolutely not" anti-Mexican. "I love the Mexican people. I have great respect for Mexico," he said. His pivot may be related to a statement from Univision, announcing that they are backing out of a $15 million deal to air the Miss USA pageant, which Trump partially owns.

In a June 16 speech announcing his 2016 campaign, Trump said: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.... They’re sending people that have lots of problems..... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

Later he said he is not against Mexicans, but US-Mexico trade deals and existing US immigration policies.

The Republican candidate told ABC on Thursday he does not regret what he said during his speech. “I said it about people from all over. I didn’t say it about Mexico. I said from people all over.”

He insists his remarks were not insulting, but others disagree.

On June 25 the largest American Spanish-language network, Univision, announced it will not televise Donald Trump’s annual Miss USA pageant on July 12.

Today, the entertainment division of Univision Communications Inc. announced that it is ending the Company’s business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which is part-owned by Donald J. Trump, based on his recent, insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants.

At Univision, we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country.

Trump says he is going to sue Univision for violating a multi-million dollar broadcast deal.

He also sent a letter to Univision on Friday banning all of the channel’s executives from using Trump's golf course in Miami.

The American tycoon added this PS to his letter to the Univision CEO:

“Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States. However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a meaningful border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists."

Trump accuses Univision of being biased in favor of Mexico’s national interests, and even encouraged a Univision boycott.

Unlike the walled-off future Trump envisions, US-Mexico relations have grown closer in recent years, and President Obama recently said he anticipates more trade and job opportunities in both countries – a vision Trump clearly does not share.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Is Donald Trump backtracking on his criticism of Mexicans?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0627/Is-Donald-Trump-backtracking-on-his-criticism-of-Mexicans
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe