When Donald Trump first threw his hat into the presidential race, his main talking point revolved around tackling illegal immigration head on and building a wall to secure the country. It was his first controversial comment of many, but it seems he may be backtracking on his claim to fame.
On Tuesday, during a taping of a town hall in Austin for Fox News, host Sean Hannity asked the Republican presidential nominee if he would consider changing the immigration law for those that “contribute to society, have been law-abiding, have kids here?” Trump answered he would consider some changes, based on what the law says:
“There certainly can be a softening because we’re not looking to hurt people. We want people — we have some great people in this country. We are going to follow the laws of this country.”
Throughout the primaries, halting illegal immigration has been Trump’s main selling point to Republicans with many hopping aboard. His recent comments are an unexpected pivot from what was a core policy of his campaign. And it seems like the rest of the Trump campaign is in on the new policy. Trump’s vice presidential pick Mike Pence reiterated his boss’ new stance:
“He’s made it very, very clear and been very consistent: we’re gonna have secure borders, we’re gonna build a wall, we’re gonna enforce the laws of this country and do so vigorously. I guarantee that he is gonna be a man of his word, securing our borders, enforcing our laws, whatever else we do will be tough but fair, and it will reflect the kind of compassion and humanity that the American people would expect and frankly that proceeds out of the character of this good man.”
In light of some recent controversial remarks and hirings, it seems the Trump campaign might be trying to soften its rhetoric to win over some new voters. Trump is still going after Hillary Clinton any chance he can get, but altering his previous policy stances could make it a whole new ball game.
(Via The Texas Tribune & BuzzFeed)
