On the issue of immigration, Trump once again claimed he would end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship has been a part of American law for 156 years, since 1868, and the adoption of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The law gives people born in the country automatic citizenship if they are born on U.S. soil or if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen at the time of their birth.
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he planned to abolish this right on the first day of his presidency. When Welker noted that it is a constitutional right, Trump said, “Well, we’re going to have to get a change, maybe have to go back to the people but we have to end it.”
No matter the meager size of Trump’s electoral victory, getting rid of this bedrock American right cannot be done via an executive order and a constitutional change requires an involved multi-state process that historically has taken years. The last time an amendment was made official was 1992 and the amendment in question, the 27th Amendment (regulating congressional pay) was introduced in 1789—a 202-year gap.
Related to immigration, Trump also said that he would not just push to deport undocumented immigrants, but entire families. Asked about families where children are legally in the United States while living with undocumented parents, Trump said, “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is if you keep them together, and you have to send them all back.”
Trump isn’t even being consistent with his own actions. It was under his first presidency that U.S. immigration policy was changed so that families were separated at the border. The policy created enormous international and domestic criticism, and the Biden administration has spent all four years of its existence trying to reunite those families.
When he first ran for president in 2016, Trump ran on a platform of repealing the Affordable Care Act and promised he would reveal a replacement. He never did. Asked by Welker about health care on Sunday, Trump still had nothing to offer.
“We have the concepts of a plan that will be better,” Trump said, repeating the phrase that was widely mocked after most agreed he lost the presidential debate to Vice President Kamala Harris.
On foreign policy, Trump argued that Mexico and Canada are purportedly being subsidized by the United States. His conclusion based on this claim?
“If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state,” Trump said.
As he has done before, Trump complained during the interview with Welker that she was “very hostile” to him and said her questions were “pretty nasty.” He told the host that when she had interviewed Biden, her questions were not as aggressive.
“I’ve never interviewed President Biden,” Welker explained to him.
Perhaps encapsulating how detached from reality Trump continues to be, he continues to cling to his made-up fantasy of winning the 2020 election.
“For the sake of unifying this country, will you concede the 2020 election and turn the page on that chapter?” Welker asked.
Trump replied, “No. No. Why would I do that.”
Trump lost the 2020 election by a margin of over 7 million votes and 74 electoral votes to Biden.
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