Too little too late, Donald.
If GOP nominee Donald Trump thinks his brief last-minute Mexico City sit-down with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and an expected pivot on immigration issues, are enough to placate the millions of Latinos and Latino-Americans he’s already offended, he’s likely mistaken.
Since day one of his campaign in June 2015, Trump has made racist lingo and proposals cornerstones of his campaign.
Here are eight of the most outrageous things Trump has said about Mexico, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.
1) Donald Trump kicked off his campaign on June 16, 2015 with a speech in which he labeled immigrants from Mexico “rapists” and criminals. “When Mexico sends it 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,” he said.
2) A few weeks later, he accused Mexican immigrants of being “killers,” too. “You have people come in and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all over, that are killers and rapists and they’re coming to this country,” he told CNN in June 2015.
3) Just months later, he went even further, claiming that Mexican officials actually “send the bad ones” to the U.S. “The Mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning. They send the bad ones over because they don’t want to pay for them. They don’t want to take care of them,” he said in August 2015.
4) In August 2015, he retweeted a crude remark aimed at then-presidential candidate Jeb Bush, whose wife is Mexican-American and who is fluent in Spanish. “So true. Jeb Bush is crazy, who cares that he speaks Mexican, this is America, English !!” the retweeted remarks said.
5) The same month, Trump booted from a press conference prominent Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos. During a Iowa press conference, Ramos was asking Trump about his immigration platform when the GOP nominee barked: “Sit down. Sit down … Go back to Univision!” A suited security guard then marched him out of the room.
6) Trump rang in Cinco de Mayo this year by tweeting a cringeworthy remark in which he claimed the best Mexican food was made in Trump Tower. “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” Trump declared in a tweet that also featured a photo of him grinning over his meal.
7) In June 2016, Trump suggested that a federal judge presiding over a fraud cases against Trump University wouldn’t be able be fair because of his “Mexican heritage.” “He’s a Mexican,” Trump told CNN of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel. “We’re building a wall between here and Mexico. The answer is, he is giving us very unfair rulings — rulings that people can’t even believe.” “I’m building a wall,” Trump said. “It’s an inherent conflict of interest.” Curiel, who was born in Indiana, refused to dismiss a pair of civil lawsuits that allege Trump University tricked students into paying tens of thousands of dollars to learn the secrets of the real-estate mogul’s success.
8) Crowds at his rallies, for the last 16 months have chanted “Build the Wall,” a rallying cry of thinly veiled racism.
