Trump poised to betray primary supporters on immigration

To the suckers who sincerely believed GOP nominee Donald Trump’s vow to create a deportation force to knock on the doors of millions of immigrants to tell them they will be deported, or his vow to build a Berlin Wall-like edifice on the U.S.-Mexican border that he promised Mexico would pay for, or his then-unyielding campaign promise to ban all Muslim immigrants — I would suggest you consider asking for a refund of any donations you might have made to the Trump campaign.

Let’s begin with the state of play about the immigration promises made by Trump, who increasingly sounds like President Obama in his rapidly changing comments on immigration.

{mosads}First, Kellyanne Conway, his latest campaign manager — who seems to be on a mission to defang Trump’s former positions and guide him toward newer and more liberal positions on immigration — recently said in a television interview that what Trump is saying today is no different than what he has always said.

At that point, the interviewer showed Conway the tape of Trump’s vowing to institute his deportation force to execute the mass deportations he promised and asked Conway if Trump still believes that. Her answer: to be determined! In other words, according to Conway, Trump does not know today whether he still believes what he previously said.

Poor Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.). Trump whipped them into submission during the Republican primaries using his hard line on immigration as a lethal weapon against them, and may soon say he agreed with their views all along.

Second, regarding Trump’s earlier vow to ban the immigration of all Muslims, he appears to have retreated to the position that he would ban immigration of Muslims from certain countries, but not other countries.

Third, regarding Trump’s vow to build the immigration wall and get Mexico to pay for it, that vow will end up in the dustbin of phony promises. Obviously, Mexico will not pay for any wall. That whopper from Trump, which has mathematically zero chance of coming true, covered up a second whopper from Trump, because if the Mexicans will not pay for the wall, who will? The American taxpayers, who will learn that the cost of the wall would be far higher than Trump promised and never offered an honest way to pay for.

You heard it here: Say goodbye Trump immigration wall when the American people learn how much they will have to pay for it.

Trump is like the snake oil salesmen of many years ago. They would sell bottles of phony medicine that were little more than water and dye, take the money from the suckers, and leave town fast before their customers learned they would not be cured.

Remember when Trump vowed again and again during the primaries — with a performance worthy of a Russian actor playing the lead role in the movie version of “War and Peace” — that he would self-finance his campaign, which would allegedly free him from the influence of campaign money? Well, like the morning dew in springtime, Trump’s self-financing guarantee faded into the mist and disappeared once he had eliminated his rivals for the nomination.

Remember when Trump discussed releasing his tax returns? Does anybody seriously believe he will do that? To use a phrase that Trump uses, some people are saying he won’t disclose his returns because he has something devastating to hide.

As Trump attacks the Clinton Foundation donations, how about Trump discussing why he donated campaign money over many years to — among others — Democrats like current nominee Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State John Kerry, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.), former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.), Vice President Joe Biden, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.), former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (R.I.), Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) and (I could not make this up if I tried) former Rep. Anthony Weiner (N.Y.).

Perhaps Trump will tell Sean Hannity what it was about Weiner that inspired him to write checks for his campaign.

Now immigration has taken center stage in the litany of fabrications that defines the Trump campaign.

Will the deportation force disappear like the self-financing of the Trump campaign? Almost certainly, yes. Will the mass deportation vows Trump offered with such fervor be diluted beyond recognition and endure the fate of his promise to self-fund his campaign through the general election? Just watch.

When the nonsense that the Mexicans will pay for the immigration wall is proven false, will Trump offer a way for Americans to pay for this wall that Americans will be willing to pay? Don’t bet on it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are witnessing in real time the slow-motion betrayal of many Trump primary supporters on the matter of immigration.

As a liberal, I applaud any new positions Trump might take that are more enlightened than his earlier positions on immigration, and as Trump increasingly sounds like Obama on immigration, the fellow getting the last laugh is living today at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. Contact him at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.