When Donald Trump announced that he was running for president in June of 2015, he made it extremely clear what he thought about immigration and, in particular, Mexican immigrants. But if you tuned into Fox News on Friday, you would have witnessed a gaslighting for the ages.
Most of the panel on the Fox News program The Five either shook their heads no or voiced an objection when co-host Juan Williams spoke the easily searchable truth that Trump called Mexican immigrants entering the country rapists during his presidential announcement speech.
And if youre talking about who likes division, President Trump pushes buttons of division and polarization, quite regularly, Williams said. I think youll remember he started his campaign by going after Latin immigrants. He said Mexicans were rapists and thieves.
Co-hosts Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, and Jeanine Pirro all shook their heads in disagreement, while some repeated, No, [Trump] didnt. And Watters tried to downplay the severity of the presidents past racist remarks by reminding the Fox audience that Trump also said, some [Mexicans] are good people.
Fox News hosts angling for Trump during campaign season isnt surprising. What is surprising, however, is where the Trump-supporting hosts have chosen to plant this particular flag and how their off-the-cuff dishonesty seemingly comes so naturally when they are defending the president.
The infamous clip of Trump degrading Mexican immigrants while announcing his bid after descending from the Trump Tower escalator in 2015 was a viral moment at the time, and the media and Trumps detractors have referenced it ever since. Trump often doubled down on the racist claim and only weeks later tweeted that Mexicans are not our friend. Theyre killing us at the border.
But if Williams wants to follow-up with his sycophant co-hosts and attempt to prove to them that Trump did indeed say what Williams (and the rest of the world) knows, maybe he can refer them to 2018 Trump.
While discussing his stance on the possibility of caravans traveling from Central America to the U.S., 2018 Trump remembered his own 2015 racism very well.
Remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower, when I opened, everybody said, Oh, he was so tough, and I used the word rape. And yesterday, it came out where, this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before. They dont want to mention that, Trump said.
And because this article is stupid and didn't actually include his original quote, here's what he said:
Thank you. It's true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people.