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| Donald Trump giving speech at a rally in Concord, North Carolina |
In the past week there has been a lot of press coverage of the recent ‘pivot’ that Trump made concerning immigration policy. As many know, Trump has been an avid supporter of deporting as many illegal immigrants as possible and building his infamous wall along the US-Mexican border. However, it was only recently that Trump completely changed his tone on immigration by saying that he would “work with [illegal immigrants]”. The article clearly shows that there are a lot of Trump supporters who are angry and upset on with the change of tone and policy. In fact, at the rally where he pivoted, many of his supporters shouted out at him in anger accusing him of being a ‘flip-flop’.
This sudden change of policy by the Trump campaign is important to look at because it can either help him or drastically hurt him. It is after all his tough immigration policy that won over many of his current supporters. This is where the idea of majoritarianism comes in from chapter 1. Majoritarianism is the idea that the majority not only prevails in elections, but also in policy determination. So then, if the majority of people support tough and restrictive immigration policy, then will they still vote for Trump? Additionally, if Trump were to hypothetically win the election, would Trump follow through on his softer immigration policy? A lot of questions arise from Trump’s shocking change of tone, but the good news is that Trump’s new policy isn’t as terrible as his last one.
Trump’s new policy certainly is less ‘tough’ on immigrants. Trump has actually suggested that not all illegal immigrants should be deported and that some should actually stay if they have no criminal record and find a way to pay taxes. He is however still against amnesty, which would make some immigrants legal citizens. His new policy could be due to many factors such as the low support from hispanics to the low poll ratings. The biggest question that arises from Trump’s new change in policy and tone is whether it will help Trump or hurt him?
I believe that Donald Trump's change in tone regarding immigration policy is to cater toward the minority voter base, specifically the Hispanic/Latino vote. As election day approaches, candidates must gain an advantage in states with large amounts of electoral votes, and the states with the greatest number of these votes, specifically Texas and California, have large Latino populations. While he is moving away from his traditional stance on the topic, as well as abandoning a large portion of his white voters, he is going to receive, as he believes it, many more minority voters in swing states, which benefits his campaign. Due to there not being another republican candidate, Trump's white supporters will most likely vote for him, regardless of his stance on immigration.
ReplyDelete- Daniel Frederick