The Donald Trump Statement that Caused a Tsunami: Let’s Clarify What the REAL Issue Is

A tsunami of disastrous consequences have been coming almost daily to Mr. Donald Trump after his inaccurate and divisive remarks in regards to Mexicans during his presidential announcement on June 16th. It did not take long as many media outlets, organizations, celebrities, events, etc. began to disassociate from Donald Trump. He has been given many opportunities to retract and apologize. However, Trump declined to do so and instead continues adding logs to the fire. The reactions of indignation came not only from people on the left, but people on the center and people on the right too. Yes, let’s make it clear that many conservatives, Republican leaders, and candidates have expressed their indignation. Let's also make it clear a reaction came from the Hispanic community and all immigrants in our country and also from Latinos all over the world. But Trump still said he would not apologize. He certainly has gotten media attention and high numbers in recent polls.

My opinion with regard to this issue was requested by several media outlets, and I sincerely desired Mr. Trump to reconsider his statement and apologize. He may have good intentions to run for President, but the fact that he is doing so as a Republican has also caused lots of controversy and harm to the Republicans. Let’s recognize that Mr. Trump has switched parties often and has neither a solid nor long record as a Republican. Donald Trump has changed his position on many issues as he used to be pro-choice, used to support gun control and universal healthcare, and he just said that he won’t commit to supporting the GOP nominee if it’s not him and that he will not discard an independent run. Mr. Trump also thinks Oprah Winfrey would be a "great" running mate. For many years, Trump also donated large sums of money to many Democrats including Hillary Clinton's senate campaign and also to the Clinton Foundation. 

Even while knowing that Mr. Trump is not what most Republicans expect for a candidate, it is very important to clarify to him, and all who are getting off subject, WHAT EXACTLY offended most people. Let’s go ahead and reflect on this. These are the words that offended many:

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

Donald Trump 06/16/15

That’s it! Let’s not add or presume it was something else. Now let’s clarify:

1. The issue which caused anger and indignation does NOT have to do with whether we disagree or agree with Mr. Trump on how to deal with the illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is wrong. People have different positions. Democrats want to solve the issue in some ways, Republicans among themselves have also several solutions on how to resolve the issue. But please, notice why people disliked the remarks. Because the remarks are NOT ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. The issue with Mr. Trump is that he 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”.
2. The issue which caused anger or indignation does NOT have to do with how we should implement border security. Most people from both parties have expressed their desire to have the border secure to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. There may be disagreements on how to do this. But remarks were not about border security. The issue with Mr. Trump is that he 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”.
3. The issue which caused anger or indignation with Mr. Trump is NOT racism. I do not think Mr. Trump is a racist or a nativist. He has Mexicans and other minorities working for him. I think Mr. Trump is just a passionate man who is used to being served, to be in charge of what he does and what he says. He is just not careful in choosing his words and his tone. After his speech, he clearly chose to do not listen to the advice of others to apologize immediately and clarify. The issue with Mr. Trump is that he 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”.
4. The issue which caused anger or indignation was NOT that people don’t know that there are drug dealers or criminals coming to our country, it is not that people deny that there are some illegal aliens who have committed crimes. People know there are others trying to harm our country. The problem was his generalization of Mexico and the people coming from Mexico. People are not necessarily “sent” by Mexico, but are here to serve and to be part of our great country. The generalization of Mr. Trump's words were inaccurate and offensive. Many Mexicans who have come to this great country have contributed in a variety of fields in great ways: serving in our military and working in the medical field, the construction business, hotels, restaurants, science, sports, and taking care of our lawns and homes, etc. Many Mexicans and other immigrants have come legally. The words he said were offensive to all Latin Americans. It seems like Mr. Trump does not understand that not all immigrants are Mexicans, not all immigrants are murderers, rapists or drug dealers, and not all immigrants in the country came illegally or are the worst of their countries. The issue with Mr. Trump is that he 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”.
5. The issue with Mr. Trump's statement is NOT that he later added another comment to his remarks. The comment was, “And some, I assume, are good people.” That “assumption” coming after the strong remarks made people think he does not know ANY good Mexican person. He is “assuming” that “some” maybe are good people, making the situation even worse. He could not tell us with assurance he knows any Mexican who has contributed in making America great. To add more fuel to the attacks, Mr. Trump posted a tweet (and later deleted it) attacking Gov. Jeb Bush because his wife, Columba Bush, is Mexican: “Jeb Bush has to like Mexican illegals because of his wife”. Columba Bush came from Mexico legally to the United States, has been married with her American husband Jeb Bush for many years, and she is a US citizen by naturalization (just like me). I just wonder how Mr. Trump would feel if someone had attacked him and said “Donald Trump has to like a communist government because of his wife” since his immigrant wife Melania Knaus Trump was born in Slovenia, then under Yugoslav Communist regime. It would be unfair and nonsense, right? The issue with Mr. Trump is that he 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”.

The remarks coming from Mr. Trump join the remarks of other very vocal individuals that under the shield of “conservative” have caused damage to our relationship with the Hispanic and Latino community. People like Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, and Phyllis Schlafly have also undermined the engagement and outreach efforts of many, including many conservative Hispanics. Conservative Hispanic voices like Daniel Garza, Alfonso Aguilar, Helen Aguirre Ferre, myself - Adryana Boyne, and others have been educating and engaging the Latino community at a national level with principles and values of economic freedom, public policy, limited government, the constitution, etc. encouraging Latinos to support those principles that have enabled them to prosper in this country. Mexican immigrants, and many other immigrants from Latino countries, have contributed, and will continue contributing, to build a more prosperous United States. The use of harsh rhetoric, a hateful tone, an arrogant attitude and a generalization of individuals will have consequences with the Hispanic vote, consequences as large as a tsunami-like wave that can cause great destruction when it reaches land. We already saw the tsunami effect on Trump; let’s avoid the tsunami effect for elections on 2016.

Those Republicans who have reacted have the right to protect their principles and to share what we think about Mr. Trump’s remarks. Among them are some of the other candidates for nomination for President. Here are some of their reactions. Let’s begin with those who disagreed with Mr. Trump:

Gov. Rick Perry answered with a great video and said: “Donald, your comments about Mexicans are offensive and they don’t reflect the values of the Republican Party. " After Perry focused on what the MAIN issue was, he added, "Donald, you might want to take a trip down to Texas some time to meet some of the Hispanic-Americans who've helped make our nation great and to learn a little bit about what we need to do to secure our border."

Gov. Jeb Bush said, “To make these extraordinarily ugly kind of comments is not reflective of the Republican Party. Trump is wrong on this.”

Sen. Marco Rubio said: “Trump’s comments are not just offensive and inaccurate, but also divisive.” Rubio also said, “What happened now is he [Trump] made other comments that are less responsible, these comments are distractive.”

Carly Fiorina also spoke out saying, “Donald Trump has said many outrageous things in his career, and I suspect he’s going to continue to say outrageous things. He doesn’t represent me, and he doesn’t represent my party.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham said on CNN’s State of the Union, “I think he’s a wrecking ball for the future of the Republican Party with the Hispanic community, and we need to push back.”

Gov. Chris Christie said, "I think what he said was wrong. It was inappropriate and I don't think it has any place in the campaign. It’s inappropriate."

Other candidates got off of the issue of the remarks thinking that the issue was about illegal immigration, but that was not the issue. Those who took that approach are:

Sen. Rick Santorum said about Trump’s remarks, "While I don't like the verbiage he's used, I like the fact that he is focused on a very important issue for American workers and particularly, legal immigrants, in this country."

Gov. Mike Huckabee in an interview with CNN talked more about the immigration issue but not really about the remarks that offended Mexicans, and later on he said, “I will never besmirch all the people who come here…”

Rand Paul did not wanted to make ANY comments about the remarks by saying, "I don't have any direct comment on other candidates' statements, [But] I believe most immigrants come to this country in search of the American dream," and when asked directly again in Iowa, he left ignoring the question.

Sen. Ted Cruz was the only one defending Donald Trump saying in an interview on Fox and Friends, “When it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump. I think he’s terrific. I think he’s brash. I think he speaks the truth. I don’t think you should apologize for speaking out against the problem that is illegal immigration.” Sen. Cruz’s response certainly caused a negative reaction among many people, including many of his supporters; but to be fair, just watch the interview and see that Sen. Cruz was asked two different questions in a foggy SAME SENTENCE: “Amnesty for illegals how you feel? And how you feel about Donald Trump’s comments that they are drug dealers and rapist coming across the border? ” Later Cruz was asked, “Are they mostly drug dealers and rapists coming through the border?" Cruz responded, “Look, they are not mostly, but Donald Trump, he has a way of speaking that gets attention, and I credit him for focusing on an issue that needs to be focused on.” Well THAT way of speaking is what got Trump in trouble. It was not the issue of illegal immigration. This was an opportunity for Sen. Cruz to show that he understands why people got upset, and he missed that opportunity.

The fair question to ask to all candidates should be: Do you agree or not agree with the statement, “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”. That is it. I think if Mr. Trump could have had a different response and said something like this: “Some people coming from Mexico and other countries are not good people. I assume some of those people are bringing drugs, crime and some are even raping people. I also know that there are many good immigrants that have come to help America be prosperous - like my present wife Melania, my former wife Ivana, and many who work in my hotels, golf courses and construction sites." Those generalized remarks against Mexicans were considered offensive by many people, companies, organizations, and those words will be remembered forever in the hearts of those who have come and contribute, serve this country, pay taxes, educate others, and stand for freedom. I hope this is clear.