Donald Trump says he’ll deliver a detailed speech on his proposal to crack down on illegal immigration on Wednesday in Arizona – but it’s anyone’s guess what he might say. “Big crowds, looking for a larger venue”, Trump, who had postponed an immigration speech originally planned for last Thursday in Denver, said in his tweet on Sunday. There has been debate within his campaign about immigrants who haven’t committed crimes beyond their immigration offenses.
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Donald Trump is not making it easy for top supporters and advisers – from his running mate on down – to defend him or explain some campaign positions.
And they didn’t bother defending his response Saturday to the killing of a mother as she walked her baby on a Chicago street. “I have no problem in doing so!”
Surrogates speak for and back up their presidential nominee. Any discussion of inconsistencies or potentially non-presidential tweeting, Pence and others suggested, reflected media focus on the wrong issue.
During the Republican presidential primary, an animating policy of Trump’s campaign was his hardline stance on immigration. “And this is not a simple question”, said Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman who’s had a hard relationship with Trump.
“Well, I think the whole question of anchor babies, as it’s known, the whole question of citizenship, of natural-born Americans is a subject for the future”, he said.
Native-born children of immigrants, even those living illegally in the USA, have been automatically considered American citizens since the adoption of the 14th Amendment in 1868.
Donald Trump wants a US-Mexico border wall, “extreme vetting” of new immigrants and deportations of those who commit crimes. But who Trump considers a criminal remained unclear Sunday. He suggested that maybe people who’ve been in this country for years should be allowed to stay if they pay back taxes. The next day, he told Anderson Cooper there’s “no path to legalization unless they leave the country”, and his plan is not “a softening”.
Recent polls indicate Clinton is ahead in some of the most competitive and pivotal states. But Trump is working to gain the advantage. “We’re trying to really see the best in these communities and leverage it in terms of continuing success and listening to their concerns, but also their success stories”, Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on Sunday.
The campaign continues to press for the African-American vote, as well.
In one case, the chairman of the Republican National Committee refused to speak for the GOP nominee at all. The first presidential debate is set for September 26.
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With these moves, though spoken in a more measured manner than usual and with the aid of a teleprompter, Trump tried to make it clear that his immigration message is a tough as ever in a week when he spoke of a possible softening in this area as a strategy for attracting Hispanic voters.
