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Trump 'A Dangerous Clown' Says Leftist Mexican Newspaper



Mexico's La Jornada published an editorial calling Trump a "dangerous clown." | Photo: Reuters

Published 5 May 2016

Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said foreign governments shouldn't comment, while Mexican paper La Jornada called Trump a "dangerous clown."

Mexican officials have began to sing a different song about presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. As there is now the possibility that he could win in November, members of the Mexican government have taken a softer tone towards the controversial Trump.

Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo told The Hill "it's not very convenient for foreign officials" to comment on U.S. elections. He says that since Mexico has become a topic of discussion in the campaign, it would be good to reinforce trade and political partnerships.

For the majority of Trump's campaign, he has unleashed slurs and insults at the Mexican people. This is how he began his bid, referring to them as "rapist" and "criminals," though he assumed some of them were good, at his announcement.

One of the pillars of his platform is the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, to keep out "illegal immigrants."

The Mexican government usually refrains from commenting on the U.S. presidential election, but politicians took exception to the crude remarks made about their people.

Mexico's secretaries of Finance and Foreign Affairs previously called Trump "ignorant." In March, President Enrique Peña Nieto compared Trump's rhetoric to Mussolini and Hitler. And in April, Guajardo himself said Mexico would always be the United State's largest trading partner, unless "Trump wins the election."

Guajardo went on to say that "Campaigns are all about how to target what the polls are telling you in order to win a specific target on a specific date. There’s a speech required to become a candidate, and a speech required to become president."

Trump has begun a noticeable shift in his rhetoric, in what many analysts say is an attempt to appear more presidential.

Mexican media has taken the opposite stance. La Jornada, a paper that noted intellectual Noam Chomsky once said was "maybe the only real independent newspaper in the hemisphere," has hardened their line on Trump.

They published an editorial on May 4 that refers to Trump as a "dangerous clown." La Jornada says that the success of both Trump and Democratic contender Bernie Sanders reveal the discontent felt by the U.S. populace, especially regarding economic neo-liberalism.

The paper highlights that Trump has the highest unfavorability ratings of the three remaining candidates, and that Sanders or Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton could easily defeat him.

Many say "it would be very difficult for Trump to occupy the White House in November," the paper comments. "But they said the same thing when his campaign kicked off 11 months ago, against 16 Republican contestants."

Now, "the clown doesn't make any smile, and he's more dangerous than ever."

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Trump-A-Dangerous-Clown-Says-Leftist-Mexican-Newspaper-20160505-0028.html