Will the Real Donald Trump Please Stand Up?
I am as perplexed as any Trump supporter could be this week. For the last two years I’ve heard nothing except how Donald Trump — if elected — would build a big, beautiful wall along our southern border, end chain migration, end the visa lottery and implement sane, merit-based immigration policies.
Somebody please explain what I witnessed Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the live, bipartisan immigration meeting held for the Trump-hating media’s benefit was ostensibly used to counterbalance the outrageous claims made in Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury”.
Some of Wolff’s allegations are that Trump, depending on the audience, vacillates back and forth between positions, has no control over anything, and is basically a senile lunatic.
For me, Wolff’s poorly sourced anecdotes seemed to have no ring of truth until yesterday.
Trump flanking himself with not one but TWO Democrat stooges — Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Steny Hoyer — was the start to this very disturbing charade.
Granted, at the beginning of the meeting, he sounded like the President Trump for whom I voted. He said we will build a border wall, and he wants merit-based immigration in addition to the end of chain migration and end of the visa lottery. All of these things must occur if the so-called “Dreamers” (some now as old as 38 with criminal records, by the way) receive legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
However, as the meeting wore on, he seemed to flip-flop — literally from one sentence to the next.
When California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is no illegal immigration hawk by any stretch, had to bring the president back to focus on the promises he made, there’s a problem.
Before McCarthy stepped in, Sen. Diane Feinstein had gone for the old Democrat rope-a-dope from time immemorial: Give us everything we want and then, much later, we’ll go back and give you a crumb. Maybe.
Trump agreed with Feinstein — indicating he would sign whatever these good people send him and that there would be a “clean” DACA bill! (“Clean” means: no enforcement, no wall, no substantial immigration changes.)
Whatever happened to candidate Donald Trump who got us to chant “Drain the Swamp”? Now he’s trusting the Swamp Creatures to do the right thing?! Are you kidding me?!
Unexpected hero McCarthy had to reel Trump back and remind him about his promises to the American people: that no deal would be done without a border wall, that we must end chain migration and the visa lottery, and that we should implement the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act.
For all of his promises, it seems as if Trump is falling for the old “bipartisanship” lie. Why in the world does the GOP wring its hands and try to hand over the store to Democrats when it controls literally every elected branch of government?
Did President Barack Obama ever negotiate with Republicans? Never. In fact, when he and Democrats were shoving Obamacare down our throats, he told assembled Republicans: I won and you lost. And Obamacare thus became the Chucky Doll that will never die.
For all the commitments the Republican Party makes on immigration — not to mention everything else — at the end of the day, they are wholly ineffective. Watching Trump kowtow to radical immigration liberals yesterday sounded all of my alarms.
The only people Trump should be listening to on immigration are Stephen Miller, Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson, Sen. Tom Cotton and Sec. Sonny Purdue. That’s it.
If Trump flip-flops on immigration, he will lose me — and I won’t be the only one.
Mr. President, there are three basic truths you need to understand:
The media hates you. No matter what you do, they will hate you.
The Democrats hate you. No matter what you do, they will hate you.
Your base — the American People — will not abandon you if you keep your promises. But they must be kept.
Make book on this right now. Caving on immigration — in any way — is the one thing that will separate Trump from his voters.
You would be wise to listen.
P.S. When Jeb Bush is praising your modified immigration stance, watch out.
Angela Box is a former teacher, devoted to the Constitution and conservatism and proud to live in Texas. A version of this article originally appeared on her blog, angelassoapbox.com.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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