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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Vincente Fox: Trump is not Welcome in Mexico

The former Mexican President is apologizing for Trump's visit.

"Former Mexican President Vicente Fox told CNN’s “New Day” early Wednesday that Peña Nieto "is taking an enormous political risk" by hosting Trump. If Peña Nieto is seen as "going soft" on the businessman, Fox warned, "it will hurt him greatly."

"It's possible Peña Nieto issued the invitations thinking neither candidate would ever show up. But it’s also possible that Peña Nieto could use the opportunity to upbraid Trump and defend his country, something many Mexicans may appreciate after being treated like a punching bag for months on the Republican campaign trail. The pair are due to host a press conference after their meeting Wednesday, giving both a stage to air grievances."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/why-is-enrique-pena-nieto-meeting-trump-227586#ixzz4IvCDAaUn

As for Trump's motivation, this is Steve Bannon's idea. Enough said.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-trumps.html

So Trump and Pena Nieto may both be using this visit to look tough and upbraid the other.

Meanwhile Fox is apologizing for Trump's visit.

"Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto "is taking an enormous political risk" by hosting Donald Trump in Mexico City on Wednesday, former President Vicente Fox said, decrying the Republican nominee's visit as "opportunistic" and a "political stunt" while apologizing on behalf of the country for the president's invitation."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-mexico-visit-vicente-fox-227582#ixzz4IvDFHOKC

Meanwhile, there are huge political protests in lieu of Trump's visit.

"Mexico rages against Trump visit."

"Reaction from Mexico against the Republican nominee's visit is swift and brutal."

"Donald Trump may have accepted the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto for a Wednesday meeting in Mexico City, but the Republican presidential nominee is getting the cold shoulder in a country where public views of its own president are already abysmally low.

"Reaction was fast and furious among those in the Mexican political cognoscenti."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-mexico-visit-margarita-zavala-de-calderon-227577#ixzz4IvDefQZZ

"Former Mexican President Vicente Fox apologized on behalf of the country during an interview Wednesday on CNN, accusing both Trump and Peña Nieto for using the occasion to exploit their own political opportunities."

"It's a very opportunistic move, and I hope U.S. public opinion, U.S. citizens can see this and finally, and finally see what is behind Trump, this false prophet that is just cheating everybody," Fox said during a Skype chat on "New Day," adding that it is "a desperate move, and I don't see how it can work at all."

"The only way that inviting Trump makes sense for Mexico would be if Peña Nieto gets the Republican nominee to apologize for his past statements about Mexicans, Fox said, saying he did not understand the thinking of the Mexican president, while pronouncing Trump's decision to visit "very smart."

"Fox had reacted fiercely to the news Tuesday night, telling Trump that "[t]here is no turning back" from his offensive remarks about Mexicans, Muslims and others that, he said, "have led you to the pit where you are today."

"Added Fox, who previously apologized to the candidate after declaring that Mexico was not going to pay for "that f---ing wall": "¡Adiós, Trump!"

"Trump responded to Wednesday's CNN interview with a tweet, reminding Fox that Fox had extended an invitation to visit Mexico along with his apology for using the "f-bomb."

"Trump is "not welcome" in her country, former Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala de Calderón tweeted Wednesday morning, after news broke of the Republican nominee's impending visit and meeting with Nieto."

"Mexicans have dignity and repudiate his hate speech," she wrote.

"Zavala, who has previously expressed a desire to run for the presidency in 2018, served in the Mexican Congress in the 1990s."

"Her husband, former President Felipe Calderón, has vowed that Mexico would not "pay a single cent for such a stupid wall," telling CNBC in February that Trump is a "not a very well-informed man."

"The first loser of such a policy would be the United States," Calderón said at the time. "If this guy pretends that closing the borders to anywhere, either for trade [or] for people, is going to provide prosperity to the United States, he is completely crazy."

Calderón retweeted the message from his wife, as well as the Hillary Clinton campaign's statement denouncing Trump anew in light of his meeting with the current Mexican president.

"Mexican Senate President Roberto Gil Zuarth tweeted that the invitation to Trump only served to legitimize his "proposal of demagogy and hate."

"We are threatened with war and walls, but we open the National Palace," he wrote, referring to the building housing the country's executive branch.

"Former Mexican diplomat Jorge Guajardo, who served as the Mexican consul in Austin and later as the Mexican ambassador to China, also slammed Peña Nieto for Trump's visit."

"I am taking suggestions on the best place to hide in Washington. I feel embarrassed as a Mexican thanks to my president. I want to hide," he tweeted.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-mexico-visit-margarita-zavala-de-calderon-227577#ixzz4IvEDVaNE

Meanwhile, Pena Nieto is the one high ranking politician with worse numbers than Trump.

"Public approval of Peña Nieto fell to 23 percent in the latest public poll, released earlier in August, with approximately three-quarters of Mexicans holding an unfavorable view of the job he is doing as president."

"Although, in Mexico, Trump is even less popular than their own President."

"In another poll, conducted in June, Trump's approval rating in the country he has used as a political punching bag was far lower: 2 percent."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-mexico-visit-margarita-zavala-de-calderon-227577#ixzz4IvEbKPmK

So how do you if you're Pena Nieto improve your 23% approval rating by having a high profile meeting with a guy who's approval is 2%?

This is why you wonder if Nieto is going to act confrontational. Nothing else makes sense politically for him.

UPDATE:

Nate Silver:

"Amused by divide between reporters who assume Mexico visit will be a diplomatic coup for Trump!!! & those who assume it will be a shitshow."

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/770831760280125440

"I'm #TeamShitshow, because come the fuck on, this is Donald Trump visiting Mexico with Rudy & Sessions on 2 days notice. But, we'll see."

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/770837987626250241

Chris Hayes:

@NateSilver538 could also be neither. "It was a productive meeting, yada yada yada"

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/770838342225321984

But I agree with Will Wheaton:

"@chrislhayes @NateSilver538 it *could*, but Trump's Razor.

https://twitter.com/wilw/status/770854158089932800

10 comments:

  1. O/T: I think I found Harding's twitter account:
    http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31905#comment-1105002

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting:
    http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-donald-trump-tax-returns-2016-8

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  3. Yes, I've talked to Harding on Twitter.

    Yes, I saw that from Cuban. Good stuff

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    Replies
    1. Harding's twitter: that was a joke (I think! I don't think that's actually his account, but I suppose it could be!). Pretty Nazified Alt-Rightist there.

      I tweeted to Dave Rubin (does a show called The Rubin Report on youtube) asking when he'd do a piece on the Alt-Right. Turns out today is the day! (I just watched it). I think Dave is too dismissive of it personally, and too keen to blame the "regressive left" for it's existence, but aside from that, someone else chimed in yesterday on twitter, pleading w/ him not to give Alt-Right too much credit, and then out of the woodwork swarmed a bunch of real nasty Neo-Nazi Alt-Rightists. These guys were sick... that one I link to above saying it's Harding's account is one. He turns the Trump Pence logo into a swastika of sorts and of course adopts the Pepe the Frog meme as his avatar. This guys are offended if you DON'T identify them as racists. Anyway, I got my first "oven meme" from them:
      https://twitter.com/FreeAzzmador/status/770865758578499584

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    2. Yep. LOL. I have talked to him on Twitter-that wasn't a joke. LOL.

      Delete
  4. Also I tried to message you to let you know that ReneeCPAinMS took over @HeHasntTweeted and is trying to build followers back up again (I guess it got zeroed out after the switch?). She's a nice lady! My message attempt failed I think. I pointed her to your blog for anti-Trump articles.

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  5. I think you'll mostly be pleased with this post-visit analysis by Jennifer Rubin of Trump's trip to Mexico:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/08/31/ten-takeaways-from-trumps-mexico-trip/?utm_term=.a9f6fb7159b9

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  6. Well now that Pieto is directly contradicting Trump it was a great trip.

    ReplyDelete