Donald Trump, who recently met with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto as he visited Mexico, has been called out by his political opponent, Hillary Clinton, for having “just failed his first foreign test,” reports CNN .
Mexico’s President Pena Nieto: “Wall Must Be Transformed, Efficient & Safe Many lives will be saved” #TrumpEnMexico pic.twitter.com/fvp4rZqFOn
— Veteran For Trump (@Veteran4Trump) August 31, 2016
Everybody even remotely aware of the goings-on in American politics knows about Trump’s plan to build a huge wall along the Mexico-America border in order to keep out immigrants and then have the Mexican government pay for the construction. Countless critics, including The Street , have proclaimed that the Mexico wall will never, ever happen , calling the idea “ridiculous” and overly simplistic.
Apparently, Peña Nieto is no bigger a fan of Donald Trump’s wall idea than many of its critics. While he acknowledges that American politicians can dream their dreams and, ultimately, do whatever they want on their own soil, even if that soil is right at the country’s border, he is determined not to get involved and will certainly not be paying for the project with Mexico’s federal budget. He made this blatantly clear in a tweet he posted hours after he met with Trump.
Al inicio de la conversación con Donald Trump dejé claro que México no pagará por el muro.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) August 31, 2016
The tweet, which is written in Spanish, translates to “From the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.”
The thing is, Trump himself had already talked to the press in Mexico city about his meeting with Peña Nieto, and the story Donald told did not mesh with the one Mexico’s president reported. In fact, Trump claimed that the two politicians had not discussed the wall at all.
Of course, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump’s prime opponent in the presidential race, quickly latched on to Trump’s inconsistent story as a sign of political weakness and did not hesitate to let the world know about it with a few tweets of her own.
Trump just failed his first foreign test. Diplomacy isn’t as easy as it looks. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 1, 2016
“Trump just failed his first foreign test. Democracy isn’t as easy as it looks,” Clinton wrote.
Hillary’s remark is in keeping with her usual routine of pointing out to the public how she, a former Secretary of State for the Obama administration, knows exactly what it takes to deal with foreign relations, and Trump, who has virtually no political experience, is simply unprepared to be President of the United States — he was a well-known business man and reality TV star before this election began.
Clinton continued down that same path of thought in a tweet posted just a few minutes later.
We are not going to criminalize, profile, round up, and deport 16 million people. pic.twitter.com/oCAAusi5dx
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 1, 2016
“We are not going to criminalize, profile, round up, and deport 16 million people,” the tweet said, critiquing Trump’s plan by effectively calling it unfeasible.
#BREAKING : Mexican president told Trump Mexico won’t pay for wall: report https://t.co/BLhVcqo9Qb pic.twitter.com/36EJXTkf2i
— The Hill (@thehill) August 31, 2016
Hillary’s campaign manager, John Podesta, summed up in a statement made later the embarrassing situation in which Trump had placed himself.
“What we saw today from a man who claims to be the ultimate ‘deal maker’ is that he doesn’t have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he’s not in front of a friendly crowd. We know who he is,” Podesta declared.
“It turns out Trump didn’t just choke, he got beat in the room and lied about it.”
Quite certainly a strike against the Trump campaign, this will almost definitely put him under higher scrutiny if he visits other countries as a representative of the United States.
The Clinton campaign did not stop there, though. They actually produced a video tearing down Donald Trump for his so-called failure during his Mexico trip. During the video, they sarcastically refer to Trump as “The Great Negotiator” while threatening violin music plays in the background.
A wall that Mexico will pay for: a bad idea from an even worse negotiator. pic.twitter.com/RZfOKe45RO
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 1, 2016
It looks like the Clinton campaign has picked up even more ammunition to add to its arsenal when attacking Trump’s character.
[Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Images]