Politics & Government
Donald Trump to Delay Immigration Policy Speech Amid Criticism of Flip-Flopping
Donald Trump is trying to balance his previous stance with gaining new followers.
Donald Trump is expected to delay a highly anticipated speech on immigration that was set for later this week following days of confusion about where the Republican presidential nominee stands on the issue — one of the major pillars of his campaign that attracted many supporters.
Trump, who is scheduled to attend a fundraiser on Thursday in Colorado where he was supposed to deliver a major speech on immigration, said on Monday that he wants a plan that is "really fair" to address the millions of undocumented immigrants now in the U.S. but that the speech he was "planning on giving is still being modified."
What Trump may see as fine-tuning, others are seeing as a flip-flop on his early campaign stance where he called for the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants by a special force in the United States.
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Trump, however, denied on Fox News early Monday that he was "flip-flopping" on his immigration proposals following a meeting with Hispanic leaders.
"We want to come up with a really fair but firm answer. It has to be very firm," he said. "But we want to come up with something fair."
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On Sunday, new Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway declined to clarify whether or not the New York businessman backs his earlier stated plan.
"What he supports is to make sure that we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for well-paying jobs, and that we are fair and humane for those who live among us in this country," Conway said on CNN.
When pressed in the interview as to whether or not a deportation force was still on the table as a potential measure, Conway deflected: "To be determined."
During the primary season, Trump denounced his Republican rivals for being too weak on immigration.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best; they're not sending you," Trump said in his announcement speech. "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."
In recent weeks, Trump has delivered several carefully scripted speeches as his team attempts to regain some semblance of control in the race following weeks of plummeting poll numbers.
In Colorado — once considered a swing state — Clinton has held a double-digit lead over Trump in multiple recent state polls.
In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 47 percent support compared to 41.5 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons
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