Joy Reid has been on a roll this week. If she keeps this up, her producers at MSNBC may have a hard time getting these lying Trump surrogates to come on the air with her, not that that would break my heart.
The Trump campaign is apparently attempting to "pivot" once again this week and give lip service to softening his stance on deportation.
Here's more on that from Think Progress: Trump Slams Immigrants While Signaling Immigration Pivot:
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met on Saturday with a group of Hispanic supporters, promising them that despite his rabidly anti-Latino and anti-immigrant rhetoric throughout his campaign, he would find a “humane and efficient” way of treating the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Three attendees of the meeting told Univision that Trump would announce on Thursday that he plans to create a path to legalization for undocumented residents. “Trump was very categorical in saying that he’s seeking a fair immigration reform,” a Republican National Committee spokeswoman who attended the meeting told the outlet.
While some media outlets suggested this might be a change of heart for Trump — or perhaps his latest flip-flop — a campaign spokesman dismissed that this marks any major policy change. “Mr. Trump said nothing today that he hasn’t said many times before, including in his convention speech — enforce the laws, uphold the Constitution, be fair and humane while putting American workers first,” Steven Cheung told BuzzFeed.
Joy Reid asked Trump surrogate Steve Cortes about the article and also asked him about his constant use of the term "illegals" to describe undocumented immigrants. When Cortes attempted to turn her question into an attack on the media rather than taking responsibility for his own words, Reid was having none of it.
REID: you understand why people on the right are not amused by this sudden change to the Marco Rubio position essentially that Donald Trump has been ridiculing since last year. he popularized himself among members of the conservative world by saying build the wall and he was saying it just yesterday morning before he went to this advisory council member. so there is the whiff of hypocrisy or contradiction here. How do you answer that?
CORTES: No, hey listen. I understand that. I understand the confusion, but I think we need to realize there's two different issues. the border is a different issue than dealing with present undocumented illegal people in the United Stated. The border has to be secured and that is non-negotiable --
REID: But wait a minute, Steve. These are not different issues for Donald Trump. He has specifically said that they would deport 11 million people and that they would begin the deportations and build the wall.
Cortes: those are two different issues joy. The wall will be built. by the way, we have a large wall on a large part of this border. Hillary clinton voted for an extension of that wall.
REID: But he has actually got a policy where he says that they're going to build a wall and deport people. Are you saying he has now changed his mind and he no longer intends to do the deportations that he promised supporters.
he has not changed his mind on the border, that is not negotiable.
CORTES: Well, first, he has not changed his mind on the border. That's non-negotiable.
REID: On deportations?
CORTES: Yes. Regarding the illegals who are here presently, there is a wide, wide range of policy options between amnesty, which is off the table permanently and mass deportation. I think what Donald Trump signaled is that he is willing to see where within that wide range of options what makes the most sense. So, has he changed position? No...
REID: That is a change of position (crosstalk) And I just want to ask you a question just personally. Are you comfortable with that terminology "illegal,” I mean as somebody who is a Latino yourself? Are you comfortable with that terminology?
CORTES: Of course I am. I'm more than comfortable with it. You know why? My father came here and worked legally and became a United States citizen. and for those that came here legally, worked very hard and became a United States citizen. And I would say this too. For Hispanics who came here legally, it is actually insulting to them to suggest that they shouldn't be protected just as all Americans should be from illegals competing with them in the labor market, possibly inflict inflicting crimes and certainly inflicting massive costs via their tax dollars. So I think legal Hispanics who did it the right way should be insulted when the media tries to lump the entire Hispanic community in as a group that somehow skirts the law.
REID: I don't think the media is attempting to say the entire Hispanic community has skirted the law. I think that's completely disingenuous and wrong. I think what I asked you was whether the term legal, which a lot of Hispanic people see as a pejorative makes you uncomfortable. I think that you're mischaracterizing. No one in the media has lumped people in, and in fact the polling shows that it's conservative voters who disbelieve that the majority of Hispanics are in the country without documents. it is actually conservative voters who have that misimpressionism.
