Donald Trump can be difficult to decode at times, but one aspect that he has always been consistent about since the day he announced his candidacy has been immigration. At least up until this past week.
In a Sunday morning interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union, Mike Pence said that his running mate has been “absolutely consistent” in his immigration policy. However, this past week supporters of Trump have been criticizing him for seemingly softening his stance on illegal immigration.
Since descending that escalator in Trump Tower over a year ago, Trump has been building his support base on the idea that he would create a “deportation force” to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the United States’ southern border to keep them from returning illegally. Last week, he seemed to have backed off of his deportation proposal a bit, saying that it’s a “very, very hard thing” to deport people, especially families, who have already been living in the U.S. for 15 or 20 years.
Ann Coulter recently wrote a book entitled “In Trump We Trust.” On just the third page she wrote, “There’s nothing Trump can do that won’t be forgiven. Coulter, who’s currently on her book tour, has berated the Republican nominee for his apparent change in position. So have other prominent conservatives, including radio host Rush Limbaugh and Ed Rollins, head of pro-Trump PAC Great America.
Pence denied that Trump was softening his position, explaining this past week by telling Tapper, “You see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people, hearing from all sides.”
“There will be no path to legalization, no path to citizenship,” Pence added. “People who want to gain legal status—you heard Donald Trump say again and again—will have to leave this country.”
Donald Trump’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.