This is what I’m talking about.
A group of Democratic state lawmakers from along the Texas-Mexico border is applying pressure to a bank whose CEO is helping raise money for Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
In a letter dated Saturday, Rep. César Blanco, an El Paso Democrat who chairs the House Border Caucus, told the IBC Bank board of directors that it is “unfathomable” that president Dennis Nixon is supporting Trump, whom Blanco called the “first racist presidential candidate since Reconstruction.” Trump has angered many Latinos with his incendiary comments on illegal immigration and more recently, remarks suggesting a federal judge cannot be fair due to his Mexican heritage.
“We will not stand quietly as Mr. Nixon allows this un-American hatred to permeate into the lives of Texans and damage the positive image of IBC Bank,” Blanco wrote. “We leave it in the hands of the IBC Board of Directors to take action and correct this unacceptable representation of your institution. Our state and our nation have come too far and I trust IBC will represent its constituency and be on the right side of history.”
Nixon has not responded to multiple requests for comment on his involvement in Trump’s campaign in Texas. Nixon’s fundraising role had already drawn attention because he is a longtime proponent of the kinds of immigration and trade policies Trump has spent much of his campaign criticizing.
When I say that this is what I mean, I’m talking about two things. One is to hold the elected officials who have endorsed Donald Trump – in particular, Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick – accountable for that choice. Abbott made a big deal out of campaigning in South Texas and trotting out his madrina in TV ads, to try to attract Latino support in 2014. Well, Donald Trump would deport Greg Abbott’s madrina if he had the chance, and we need to make sure every one of those voters Greg Abbott sought to win two years ago knows who Abbott is supporting today. Let’s see how much campaigning he wants to do south of I-10 in 2018.
I’m also talking about holding business interests that consistently support politicians who oppose things they claim to favor, like immigration reform, accountable for supporting their own apparent enemies. I’ve harped ad infinitum about Bill Hammond and the Texas Association of Business and their crocodile-tears support of things like immigration reform, as they write checks to the likes of Dan Patrick. They get what they want out of this deal, which is political cover and all the we-wish-it-were-different-but-we’re-too-helpless-to-do-anything-about-it quotes they can get in news stories. That free ride needs to end, and that starts with them being called out on it.
To be fair to the TAB, they would say that they exert influence behind the scenes to keep some of the worst stuff from getting passed in the Legislature. I have my doubts that they’ll be able to make that same claim after the next session, but it’s what they’ve got for now. As for Trump, the bottom line is that you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say you oppose this horrible thing he’s said or that awful thing that he says he’ll do and at the same time support him anyway. He is uniquely bad among Presidential candidates, and anyone who embraces him is forever tainted by it. Good on Rep. Blanco for putting that onus squarely on IBC and Dennis Nixon. Now let’s not let them forget about it.
Is Abbott’s madrina illegal? ‘Cause if not, I don’t think anyone, even Trump himself, could get her deported. Trump has never called for deporting anyone here legally, and it’s disingenuous to insinuate that he would or even would like to.
I get that the legal Hispanics might feel an affinity for their illegal paisanos, especially since so many of those legal Hispanics were Reagan’s amnesty recipients and their many offspring, but intimating that Trump wants to deport all Hispanics is fearmongering not rooted in truth or fact.
Of course, if I was a legal Hispanic, I’d be supporting deportation, too, because all the new arrivals are competing for jobs with those already here, and the new illegals work harder and cheaper than their legal brethren. Don’t ask me how I know that.
TRUMP IS COMING TO THE WOODLANDS THIS FRIDAY. If you guys need representation on your upcoming P.I. charges please let me know. I will cut you a real good deal.