DONALD TRUMP: either you love the guy or hate him. This is especially true in the context of politics and the race to the White House. Filipinos in America are divided as well in how they look at this real estate mogul/reality TV show star, and now US President wannabe.
Most Democrats and many Independents seem to feel no love for Trump, especially in relation to his remarks against Mexican immigrants when he announced his candidacy for US President.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best, they’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists and some I assume are good people,” Trump said during the announcement of his presidential bid last week.
Republican presidential candidates are taking aim at Trump, quick in distancing themselves to what could potentially turn away Hispanic and immigrant voters.
As Balitang America reported, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said: “Yes, I think he made a severe error in saying what he said about Mexican Americans and I feel it’s unfortunate.”
“Donald Trump does not represent the Republican Party. I was offended by his comments,” declared Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry.
GOP candidate George Pataki asserted, “I think they were really completely unacceptable to any person in the 21st century.”
Many Democrats, on the other hand, are as quick to jump in to say that Trump in fact represents the real sentiments and views of the Republican party, stripped of political agenda — that like Trump, most Republicans are anti-immigrants, and discriminate against people of color.
So did Trump’s remarks hurt him or helped him in his presidential ambition? If surveys are to be our gauge, they seem to be helping him among likely Republican voters.
According to the most recent Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll, 17 percent named Trump as their first choice for the GOP nomination in the 2016 presidential race.
Trump was followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (14 percent), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (8 percent), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (6 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (5 percent), retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (4 percent), Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (4 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (4 percent) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (3 percent).
Those who got less than 2 percent each were former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, and former New York Gov. George Pataki.
Meantime, Balitang America Correspondent Don Tagala talked to members of the Filipino American Community Action Group (Fil-Am CAG) in Virginia Beach, who are mostly conservatives and have mixed reactions. As Tagala reported:
Fil-Am CAG Chairman Nony Abrajano (R) said, “Donald Trump, I like the guy. He’s very straight. He’s not going around the bushes and I like his approach.”
“No, no, no – in any way you should not generalize something, anything of that nature, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or national whatever,” said Fil-AM CAG member Zeny Bautista.
Fil-Am CAG member Justo Manglicmot said, “He speaks his mind, but at this time, I cannot figure out him becoming President of the United States.”
“I don’t think that he can win. First of all, you have to have a candidate that can win. But any of these candidates really can,” Juan Montero, a retired doctor from Virginia Beach said. “But I salute Donald Trump for his directness and what he has done to stir up the pot, so to speak.”
Tagala further reported that some believe that Trump has just helped push Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton to the top even more.
Bert Dayao, vice chair of Fil-AM CAG said, “I think Hillary Clinton has a chance to do it this time. If the (Democratic) Party goes for her, she will be the best candidate.”
Henni Espinosa and Florenz Legaspi reported on Balitang America about the sentiments of kababayans in Phoenix, Ariz.:
“I like the idea of him wanting to follow the law and for immigrants to go through the process the right way,” said Raniel Suba.
“Very honest and frank,” said Linda Crawford. “Yan ang gusto ko sa kanya. Talagang masasabi niya kung anong katotohanan.”
WILL YOU VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
Yes, I’ll vote for him. He would be a good example for us to stop behaving like wage slaves and be like real Americans making an average of one million dollars a year. One million dollars is less than one percent of what he made last year. Imagine that!
We do not have an immigration problem. The problem we have is our lack of understanding of how it’s like to live in a “capitalistic” society like the United States of America.