After Trump told the press early Thursday morning that he didn't mean Mexico would actually pay for his border wall during the presidential campaign, Fox News' Cavuto played multiple times where Trump bragged over and over again about Mexico paying for the wall.
As Your World With Neil Cavuto began, Trump was holding another press PR press gaggle with Ted Cruz that bled into the beginning of his program. Fox News' Casey Stegall piped in with a report and then it was Neil's turn.
Cavuto said, "[Trump] just said something a few minutes ago that startled a lot of people. Listen to this."
Trump: "Mexico's going pay for the wall? You think they're going to write a check for 20 billion, $10 billion, 5 billion or 2 cents, no. They're paying for the wall in a great trade deal."
This was a new lie from Trump that he said earlier today and continued with that even startled Cavuto.
Cavuto remarked, "All right, this is an Abbott and Costello thing (and in a high pitched voice continued) but that is not exactly what you said - in the past."
He then played a compilation of Trump's comedy routine:
We will build the wall and Mexico will pay for the wall.
And Mexico will pay for the wall.
i will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.
We will build the wall and who is going to pay for the wall?
Crowd: Mexico!
"He was very consistent throughout the campaign, whatever you make of it," Cavuto reminded viewers. "Of course it lit up his base by saying the Mexicans were going to foot the bill for that -- writing a check or whatever. He was clear. consistently. in fact, constantly saying that the Mexicans were going to pay for this."
Neil then wert into spin mode to blame Democrats for playing the same game, but there can be no denying that Trump has turned the presidency into a vaudevillian act.
And Democrats never took anything so petty so far into the foxhole of lunacy as Trump has.
If Mexico is magically paying for the wall with a trade deal that hasn't been signed into law yet then, why is he shutting down the government at all and demanding Congress gives him 5 billion dollars to build the wall?
Ed. Note: Trump claims he never said he'd make Mexico write a check for the wall, but he did. And it was published in a position paper, even.
An August 2015 campaign position paper said "Mexico must pay for the wall and, until they do," the U.S. would "impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages," increase fees on visas and ports of entry into the U.S., and possibly implement tariffs or cut aid.
An April 2016 campaign memo outlined similar ways of pressuring Mexico. That plan explicitly said Mexico would make "a one-time payment of $5 - 10 billion" for the wall.
The memo also proposed threatening to block remittances from Mexican nationals in the U.S. back to Mexico – which the campaign said amounted to $24 billion a year. The plan was to then "tell Mexico that if the Mexican government will contribute the funds needed to the United States to pay for the wall," the rule blocking the money transfers would not be enacted.
"We have the leverage so Mexico will back down," the memo said.
Just so the record is clear.
