When Donald Trump accepted the role as the 2016 Republican Presidential Nominee, he made his stance and plans for immigration reform extremely clear. Trump insisted on various occasions that in the event that he were to become president, he would deport over 11 million immigrants, build a wall to prevent said immigrants from reentering and would create bans on certain religions. It is not hard to imagine why Trump capitalized on such rhetoric during the initial stages of his campaigning. This rhetorical strategy was an attempt to tie himself to conservative republican voters, which can be considered a success as their support gave Trump his margin of victory in most key primary contests. Trump’s rhetorical strategy in his early campaign stages can be understood as a clear choice, to dispose of Latino and Muslim community votes in order to gain the conservative, white male votes.
Now, as we are amidst the final stages of the presidential candidates campaigns, we are seeing a notable shift in Trump’s immigration rhetoric, which leads me to wonder: Can he overcome his immigration rhetoric from the earlier stages of his campaign by dissociating himself with lighter and more ambiguous immigration rhetoric in the current election stage? Is Trumps shift in immigration stance and rhetoric, a motive appeal at it’s best, enough to actually gain support from the Latino and Muslim communities?
The Los Angeles Times, a newspaper who caters to an audience that is made up of 50 percent Latinos, says that “Donald Trump’s shifting talk on immigration shows his struggle to reach beyond his core supporters.” To me, this statement alone speaks volumes. Combining a presidential candidate with the word “struggle” illustrates a rhetorical situation that the presidential candidate is unable to gain control over. Trump’s “struggle” to gain the support from an audience that he dehumanized just a few months ago may just indicate that his immigration rhetoric from the earlier stages of his campaign are not just a mole hill to overcome but an actual insurmountable mountain. When it comes to Trump gaining that additional support from the communities he previously aimed to deport- it may just be “a little too late.”
I agree with you. While candidates are always more extreme in the primaries and then dive towards the center during the general election, I believe Trump started too the the right to be able to effectively move towards the center now. The same people that he attacked a few months ago now control his future, and I believe he has caused too much damage to get their support. On the other hand, by him trying to move towards the center he could anger his base supporters that he gained by being so extreme on his immigration ideas. He is in a tough spot. Does he move to the center in attempt to gain more moderate voters (even after he viciously attacked them), or should he stick with his more extreme views in order to make his base happy.
I think this is a great look at Trump’s shifting stance from a rhetorical perspective! Really, Americans don’t like when candidates are shifty about their views, and I think that Trump’s obvious shifting will end up hurting him. Although he is still very persistent on his radical immigration views, there is a notable difference between Trump as the nominee and Trump as the hopeful nominee.