Posted on 07/04/2015 8:01:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Motormouth Donald Trump isn’t doing the Republican Party any favors — and his fellow GOP candidates are adding to the damage by being slow to condemn him, Latino advocates said Friday.
“Trump’s comments are causing irreparable harm to the brand. It’s going to be very hard to come back from it,” said Felix Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.
The billionaire candidate sent the debate over border control into overdrive — and cost himself business deals — by saying Mexico exports “rapists” and drug dealers to the U.S.
He upped the ante Friday after Kate Steinle, 32, was shot to death on a San Francisco pier by a man who had been deported five times and has seven felony convictions.
“This senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately,” said Trump. “This is an absolutely disgraceful situation and I am the only one that can fix it. ”
Hispanics Across America Chairman Fernando Mateo said a failure to slam Trump may end up backfiring on the GOP.
“Anyone that has not denounced Trump’s position is weak and does not deserve Hispanic support come election time,” Mateo said, calling Trump a “frustrated” attention-seeker.
Trump, for his part, basked in his success in early surveys.
Trump came in with an average of 13.6% support in opinion polls, which leads all GOP candidates.
“Wow, Huffington Post just stated that I am number 1 in the polls of Republican candidates,” the real estate mogul tweeted earlier Friday. “Thank you, but the work has just begun!”
Trump was touting his first-place finish in an average of 105 opinion polls tracked by the news outlet: He came in with an average of 13.6% support to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 13.3%.
While Trump has gained traction, Latino groups and some of his fellow candidates who are mindful of GOP efforts to appeal to Latino voters have told him to back off.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — the son of Cuban immigrants — on Thursday called Trump’s comments “not just offensive and inaccurate, but also divisive.”
Marco Rubio came out against Trump’s comments, saying the next President needs to bring Americans together, ‘not someone who continues to divide.’
But another senator of Latino heritage, Ted Cruz of Texas, stuck up for Trump. He’s accused NBC Universal — which has broken ties with Trump — of folding to political correctness.
Others have yet to comment on Trump’s remarks, although Bush, whose wife was born in Mexico, has called them “wrong,” and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has said Trump’s comments don’t reflect the GOP.
Former Gov. George Pataki on Friday launched an online “Stand Up to Trump” petition.
Critics have called Trump out for his “racist” assertions about Latinos and have urged businesses to drop their dealings with him — a move that would put them in the company of Univision, Macy’s, and Serta.
They were joined Friday by NASCAR, which said it will not hold its season-ending awards ceremony at the Trump National Doral Miami.
Mateo said the party as a whole needs to speak up.
“We are the real men in this Republican Party. As a longtime Republican myself, I’m ashamed that the chairman of the party has not come out to condemn Trump's actions,” he said.
An RNC spokesman pointed to earlier remarks by Chairman Reince Priebus, who said of Trump's tirades, “Those particular comments — not helpful.”
Yeah, I heard that one.
Henson Moore of LA was falsely accused of this in the LA Senate election of 1986; he was unable to fight back effectively and lost in a Democrat year to John Breaux.
Here is an excerpt I got from Wikipedia under “John J. McKeithen. It is about the 1963 Louisiana governor’s race
“In the runoff campaign, McKeithen rallied the supporters of fifth-place finisher Shelby Jackson by warning of the dangers of a NAACP “bloc vote” for Morrison. McKeithen won the runoff, 492,905 (52.2 percent) to 451,161 (47.8 percent).”
Morrison was former mayor of New Orleans and a liberal. Morrison died about four months later (along with his young son) in a plane crash in Mexico. I think he may have been on assignment for McKeithen.
Thanks for the info. Freepers always come thorough!
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