Trump attacking immigration issue openly and honestly

Who cares what the polls say — though many show the presidential race extremely close. If you want to know who is winning the presidential race, look at the actions of the mainstream media. The fact that media saw Republican nominee Donald Trump working on voter outreach to Hispanics earlier this week and made the story about a faux deportation flip-flop tells you all you need to know about this race.

There is no denying Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had a horrific week last week at the same time Trump was finding his stride. Rather than join Trump to help flood ravaged Louisiana, Hillary hunkered down on Martha’s Vineyard to raise more money for her stagnate campaign.

{mosads}And as Trump was building an outreach to African-Americans, Team Hillary tried to pin her email woes on former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Understanding that Hillary — a privileged white woman who wears $10k coats — trying to frame a black man for her crime is bad press, the “I’m with her” Hillary media minions needed distraction.

It just so happened as Hillary was recovering, strike that, fundraising in the Vineyard with a bunch of rich white people, Trump was meeting with his Hispanic advisers. Instantaneously, reports that Trump was ditching deportations filled the web.

“It sure sounds like Donald Trump is considering his biggest flip-flop yet” read the headline from the Washington Post. NPR reported that “Trump Campaign Signals He May Moderate Immigration Stance.” NBC went further proclaiming that “Donald Trump Openly Weighs a Massive Immigration Reversal.” Even the BBC got in on the con reporting that there were “Questions over Trump’s deportation plan.”

But what questions were they talking about? Had Trump signaled during the meeting that the wall was toast, deportations were sidelined, and he was going to sing Kumbaya with Vicente Fox?

Not even close. 

Adrian Carrasquillo, a BuzzFeed reporter who was one of the first to report the faux flip-flop, wrote that “Trump did not explicitly use the word ‘legalization’ at the meeting, but sources in the room said they feel it is the direction the campaign is going.” In other words, Trump never said he was changing his immigration plans, but unnamed people in the room just felt like the tone was changing.

Based upon these gut feelings, newspapers splashed headlines of an impending Trump flip-flop. No sources, just feelings. This is the state of modern journalism in a presidential election.

There is no proof that Trump is flip-flopping on immigration. None. But that having proof was not the point. The point was to take Trump off message and cause Trump’s supporters to doubt him. The plan, however, backfired.

“In recent days, the media — as it usually does — has missed the whole point on immigration. All the media wants to talk about is the 11 million or more people here illegally,” Trump said in Iowa. “But my priority is the well-being of 300 million American citizens, including millions of Hispanic citizens and legal residents who want a secure border, a safe and drug-free community, and a growing economy.”

Trump was showing that immigration dealt with a number of human emotions that included the lives of American workers and those coming to the U.S. for a better life. It was this honesty most missed, and in attacking Trump, the Trump Train was not derailed. Instead, the nation saw a side of Trump the media ignores — his human side. Americans saw a man who, in having an open dialogue with the nation on immigration, was wrestling with the tough questions our broken immigration system has created.

But this struggle is not borne of political opportunism; it is rooted in a genuine conundrum. Trump recognizes that we must control our borders and enforce our immigration laws, but he also sees the human worth in immigrants. The fact that he is having an open discussion with the nation is a big step forward. Unlike those in the rival party that views Latinos as “taco bowls”, Trump is not crafting policy positions for political points; he is doing so to fix the problem.

And the only reason Trump is having to struggle with our immigration crisis is because leaders in both political borders sold out our nation’s border security for political gain. Trump, again, is highlighting that the Washington establishment is the root cause of what ails the nation, in this case immigration. So Trump is not flip-flopping; he is trying to fix the immigration crisis that Hillary helped to create with the heart of a compassionate conservative.

On Wednesday, Trump explained how he would tackle the issue. He told a crowd in Mississippi that any immigration plan he supports must pass three tests.

“First it must improve jobs and wages for U.S. citizens. Second, it must improve the safety and security of U.S. citizens. Third, it must improve the quality of life of U.S. citizens,” Trump said.

But what about the wall? What about the “deportation force”? Is Trump not waffling on those?

To the press, this was a “flip-flop” because they had defined Trump’s immigration as a wall and a deportation force. There is no denying a wall is a part of Trump’s policy, but, again, Trump has always struggled with what to do with the 11 million illegals in America. Even one-time Trump rival Ted Cruz criticized Trump claiming Trump’s immigration plan as “soft.”

Specifically the Texas Senator said that, unlike Trump, he would not let “folks to come back in and become citizens.” Pushing aside the rich irony, Cruz provides Trump’s alibi. Trump cannot be flip-flopping today if Cruz was hitting him with the same claims yesterday.

Moreover, when Trump first discussed a “deportation force” on “Morning Joe,” there was an element of compassion. During that interview Trump explained “You’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely and you’re going to bring the country — and, frankly, the people, because you have some excellent, wonderful people, some fantastic people that have been here for a long period of time.”

Thus, when Trump first commented on a deportation force, he conditioned it on humane treatment and fairness. This is exactly what Trump said Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and, most likely, what he said during the meeting with Hispanic advisors.

While one could argue that the media was justifiably confused as to this “flip-flop” because deportation in their world is automatically unfair, and any mention of fairness must mean a “flip-flop,” the evidence suggests otherwise. From inflated polling to round-the-clock negative treatment to taking words out of context, the media is throwing everything they’ve got at Trump. It just so happens that fake flip-flops is the only thing left.

The moment these all-fluff-no-facts hit pieces disappear is the moment to begin worrying.

Joseph R. Murray II is administrator for LGBTrump, former campaign official for Pat Buchanan, and author of “Odd Man Out.” He can be reached at jrm@joemurrayenterprises.com.