It was off the record. But in reality, Trump’s “confession”, if accurate, is only an acknowledgement of a reality that many of his supporters refuse to accept: you can’t round up and deport 11 million people and you can’t build a 2,000-mile wall that would effectively keep anyone out. Here, for example, is a section from an interview Trump did with the Washington Examiner, in which he is asked if “deporting all illegal immigrants” is an opening position in a negotiation.
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Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, has sought to go toe to toe with Trump in recent days, calling on the 2016 GOP front-runner last week to release his tax returns, also suggesting they could include a “bombshell”. We need a border.
Unless the news is that Trump, like other politicians, occasionally says one thing and does another in the name of being elected, there is no news here.
Before a rally in San Antonio on Monday afternoon, Cruz called on Trump to ask The New York Times to release the tape, which reportedly stems from an off-the-record exchange the billionaire had with the newspaper’s editorial board.
“If you’re sitting in Manhattan telling The New York Times that you’re lying to the voters, the voters have a right to know”, Cruz said.
Trump has mostly brushed off Romney’s push, though rivals Cruz and Rubio released their returns over the weekend in an attempt to pressure Trump to do the same.
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Sen. Marco Rubio echoed Cruz’s call for Trump to ask the paper to make the comment’s public during a campaign event in Conway, Arkansas. The Times has revealed an on-the-record portion in a dispute with Trump over his plan to slap tariffs on Chinese goods, but Trump’s off-the-record chat has “reached near-mythical status at the Times,”per Buzzfeed”.
