The subject of this weekend’s conversation was whether Donald Trump was making a pivot on immigration and creating a pathway to legalization that is viewed as anathema to his most hardcore supporters. Trump hasn’t always been an immigration warrior, calling Romney’s 2012 self-deportation plan for illegal immigrants “mean-spirited.” Guy also noted the rather muddied responses from campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who had previously drafted a pro-amnesty memo prior to her hiring with the Trump campaign, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). Conway added on CNBC that even Sessions isn’t in the deport them all camp.
Uh, Conway on CNBC: "Even Senator Jeff Sessions...he doesn't deport 11 million people in his plan." pic.twitter.com/vYK5ezKNpZ
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) August 22, 2016
Now, Trump is pushing back at the notion that he’s flip-flopping on immigration. Though he avoided giving specifics, he said on this morning’s edition of Fox and Friends that he was working on something terrific on immigration, something that is “fair.” Al Weaver of The Washington Examiner
We're dealing with people. We have to be very firm. We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally. We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process," Trump told Fox. "It's not fair for them. And we're working with a lot of people in the Hispanic community to try and come up with an answer."[…]
“No, I'm not flip-flopping," Trump said. "We want to come up with a fair but firm answer. Has to be very firm. But we want to come up with something fair. "
Like with his replacement for Obamacare, I guess we’ll find out if he wins in November, which doesn’t seem likely at this point. Yet, he has had a very good couple of days; his trip to Louisiana being a very good move, which earned him high marks from some in the media, like the Daily Beast’s John Avalon, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.
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