Venezuela president: Trump is ‘a bandit, a thief’

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insulted GOP White House hopeful Donald Trump for criticizing Mexico earlier this week.

“I condemn all of Donald Trump’s comments,” Maduro said in a speech, according to Reuters.

{mosads}“He’s a bandit, a thief,” he added. “He who messes with Mexico, messes with Venezuela.”

Trump formally launched his 2016 presidential campaign on Tuesday from New York City’s Trump Tower. He provoked debate that morning by harshly criticizing Mexico’s role in illegal immigration into the U.S.

“The U.S. has become the dumping ground for everybody else’s problems,” Trump said.

“They’re sending people who have lots of problems,” he said. “They bring in drugs, they bring in crime, they’re rapists. I assume some are good people.”

“It’s got to stop, and it has got to stop fast,” Trump added.

Maduro responded on Thursday by calling the New York business mogul a “pelucon,” Reuters said.

That term describes an old, long-haired aristocrat, it said.

Maduro, a socialist, has frequently used the term as a put-down against his opponents, the news service added.

Trump has long advocated building a wall along America’s border with Mexico to stop illegal immigration. He has also vowed to expand the size of America’s workforce aggressively.

“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created, I tell you that,” he said during his campaign announcement on Tuesday.

A report released on Wednesday alleges Trump’s campaign paid actors $50 to participate in his campaign kickoff.

He previously teased seeking the Oval Office in 2012 before ruling against a bid later that year.