Since the beginning of his race for the Presidency, Donald Trump has consistently used his particular brand of immigration rhetoric to bolster his image as a hard-hitting challenger candidate that has come to save America from ultimate disaster. Although his views have become undeniably less radical after becoming the Republican nominee, his immigration narrative is the unmistakable foundation of “no-mercy” campaign. Trump’s audience knows how he feels about immigrants. But, some aren’t receiving the message so clearly, mostly because Mr. Trump doesn’t consider a large portion of people when creating his message in the first place.
Latinos in the media feel like Trump has failed to address his immigration policies in the recent Presidential debates, although his stance on immigration “has been a centerpiece of Donald Trump’s campaign for over a year.”
So, why is it that Trump’s immigration policies seem nearly as rampant in the media and present in his discourse as his sexual assault allegations? (Which are undeniably rampant.)
The answer can be found in every instance that Trump uses his stance on immigration as a crutch – as a defense strategy to avoid addressing the more immediate topic at hand.
In the most recent debate, when asked by Anderson Cooper if Trump has assaulted the women that claimed he had, Trump replied by saying:
“And I will tell you: No, I have not. And I will tell you that I’m going to make our country safe. We’re going to have borders in our country, which we don’t have now. People are pouring into our country, and they’re coming in from the Middle East and other places.”
Instead of fully addressing the allegations, Trump remained in his immigration safe zone and retreated into a rhetorical area that he’s become the most comfortable in. Although this message is somewhat successful at distracting the particular audience it was designed for, it leaves the audiences he didn’t consider – like the Latino journalists mentioned above – more confused and dissatisfied with his discourse as ever.
I didn’t even notice Trump’s attempt to flee the allegations question by reverting back to immigration reform. You are spot on when you say that it is a “safe zone” and that in going back to this topic- he is trying to distract his favorable audience and redirect them into a state of mind on things that he finds more important. I can see how this would be effective for the closed minded, loyal supporters that he garnered through his radical immigration reform introduction. However, I can see how he using the immigration topic to divert his audience’s attention could be not only disturbing but also annoying to people who have been previously insulted by his extreme immigration views.