TRUMP CAN'T MANIPULATE LATINOS

     After reading the commentary below, please express your own thoughts.  Instructions on how to do so are written at the bottom of this column.  Thank you.

     Shame, shame, shame on President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico.  After all...Donald Trump - for more than 14 months - has maliciously slammed the good people of the nation to our south.  Let us not forget Trump's words on June 16th, 2015.  Of Mexicans crossing the border in to the United States, the billionaire businessman told the world..."When Mexico sends its people... they're not sending their best.  They're bringing drugs.  They're bringing crime.  They're rapists."  And of other Latinos...whose travel practices between Mexico and the U.S. are perceived as illegal...Trump has doubled-down in the past with..."We have drug dealers coming across.  We have rapists.  We have killers.  We have murderers."  In addition...Trump - for more than a year - has viciously made it known...that if he was President of the United States...he would "build a wall" between the U.S. and Mexico...to safeguard America from illegal immigration.  And until recently...Trump has insisted that approximately 11-million undocumented immigrants would be rounded up and sent back to Mexico and other countries from whence they came. 

     So with all the racist rants...and inflammatory insults about Mexicans and other Latinos...how did President Pena Nieto - on Wednesday, August 31st, 2016 - graciously throw down a welcome mat to Donald Trump?  How did Pena Nieto...roll out the red carpet at the Presidential Palace in Mexico City...for a man who some Mexicans have called a "monster"...and that two former Mexican leaders - President Felipe Calderon and President Vicente Fox - have said remind them of Adolf Hitler?

     If someone verbally abused you...time and time again...and blasted you and your family with every despicable name under the sun...would you be so cordial?  Would you really want that person in your home?  I don't think so.  I know I wouldn't.

     I understand that a nation's head of state should also be a diplomat.  But Donald Trump is NOT...the President of the United States.  And this columnist doesn't believe he ever will be.  So why did President Pena Nieto extend an invitation to Trump in the first place?  Why was Pena Nieto so nice to someone whose toxic tongue has spewed derogatory language about the citizens of the Mexican nation?  I certainly would not want a political candidate from a foreign country...who has been offensive to the American people...to be asked to visit The White House.  I just can't imagine President Obama saying to that person..."Howdy neighbor!  How 'bout dropping by for a cup of coffee?" 

     President Pena Nieto did urge Trump to give "respect" to the people of his country.  But if I was a Mexican...I'd be furious at Pena Nieto...who reportedly has only a 23 percent approval rating by his homeland citizens.  And I don't think his popularity is going to improve now...considering that a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll says that 75 percent...three out of four Mexicans...have a negative opinion of Donald Trump.

     And what about that wall?  Trump has all along proclaimed...and held firm...that Mexico would pay for such a barrier.  But at a press conference in Mexico...Trump apparently lied...because he told reporters...that although he and President Pena Nieto did - in their private meeting - talk about the wall...the subject of who writes the check...was not discussed.  However...afterwards...Pena Nieto tweeted that he "made it clear (to Donald Trump) that Mexico will not pay for the wall."

     What is up the sleeve of President Pena Nieto?  Does he not remember Donald Trump tweeting that "Mexico is not our friend"...and calling the Mexican government..."corrupt?"  Why would Pena Nieto meet with Trump...who in all likelihood will not be elected America's Commander-In-Chief?  Mexico's President should have sent the Republican nominee a different kind of message...one that emphatically stated..."Stay off Mexican soil."  Instead, there was a "Hallmark moment" handshake that Trump will try to use to his benefit.  Meanwhile...Pena Nieto has reportedly invited Hillary Clinton to also be a guest of the Mexican leader.  But the Democratic nominee has apparently not yet responded.  

     Donald Trump is making an effort to manipulate Latinos.  He is not "softening" his views on immigration, as some network news correspondents are reporting.  Trump is trying to convince voters that he is not the evil beast that most Americans have observed him to be throughout Campaign 2016.  But Trump's Mexican "political circus" is not going to persuade enough undecided voters...and certainly not enough Latino-Americans...that he's not bigoted against Mexicans.  Hillary Clinton - on the other hand - whether as a U.S. Senator from New York...as Secretary of State...and as a candidate for President...has always been someone who has treated the people of the Latino community with the dignity they deserve.

     After spending more than a year... bad-mouthing Mexicans...and vowing to "build a wall" between our two countries...Donald Trump cannot...mend fences...69 days before the general election...in order to woo the 27.3-million Latino-Americans who are eligible to cast their ballots on November 8th.  That's nearly 12 percent of all U.S. registered voters...an overwhelming majority of which will be filling in the circle next to Hillary Clinton's name on election day.  And Latinos will help Mrs. Clinton...to be elected the 45th President of the United States.

     When Campaign 2016 commenced...nobody expected Donald Trump to lack compassion...and to not care about the feelings of others.  Yet millions of people supported the real estate mogul in the primaries...which handed him the GOP nomination.  But Latinos are smart...and they will not be tricked in to voting for a man - in the general election - that has been so wickedly repulsive...towards Americans whose background and culture is Hispanic.  

     In future campaigns...political candidates have got to realize...that an attack on ethnic, religious or minority groups of any kind...is unacceptable behavior.  And hopefully...Americans as a whole...have learned their lesson...that prejudice in Presidential politics - as with life in general - is terribly wrong.  Unfortunately...I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach...that no amount of education...is going to teach certain people...to do what's right.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credit: abcnews.go.com (President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico), cnn.com and turner.com (Republican Nominee for President of the United States of America, Donald Trump), atvn.org (Former President Felipe Calderon of Mexico), cnn.com and turner.com (Former President Vicente Fox of Mexico), xxlmag.com (President of the United States of America Barack Obama), fox17online.com (President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico and Republican Nominee for President of the United States of America, Donald Trump), motherjones.com (Democratic Nominee for President of the United States of America and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #1) and csmonitor.com (Democratic Nominee for President of the United States of America and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #2)

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