The controversial comments made by Donald Trump during his announcement of his run for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination has revealed a rift within the party. Although many other candidates in the race have condemned Trump’s comments – where he called Mexican undocumented immigrants “rapists” – some are saying that the heart of his message was valid, even if the actual words he used were not.
“I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration,” admitted Senator Ted Cruz, another Republican presidential candidate, during an interview with Meet the Press on NBC yesterday. “The Washington cartel doesn’t want to address that. The Washington cartel doesn’t believe we need to secure the borders. The Washington cartel supports amnesty and I think amnesty is wrong.”
Although Cruz acknowledged that Trump’s language was more “colorful” than he would use himself, he also pointedly refused to join in the widespread condemnation of the real estate mogul that most of his fellow candidates have indulged in. Another candidate who feels the same way is Rick Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, who told Face the Nation on CBS that while he dislikes Trump’s language, the issue of illegal immigration that he raised is of vital importance.
Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, has been among the most vocal of Trump’s critics. The latter has not taken this lying down, firing back on Twitter: “Rick Perry failed at the border. Now he is critical of me. He needs a new pair of glasses to see the crimes committed by illegal immigrants.”