John Kasich Blasts Trump’s ‘War on Children’ Immigration Policy: ‘Not the Spirit of What We Did on D-Day’
On CNN, Republican former Governor John Kasich lambasted the Trump administration’s family separation policy as a “war on children” and called out its harsh, draconian measures as contradicting the country’s founding principles: “That is not America. That is not in the spirit of what we did on D-Day.”
Speaking with CNN primetime host Don Lemon, the former Ohio governor and frequent critic of President Donald Trump said that watching a recent news report about a detention facility for immigrant children in Homestead, Florida made him “sick to my stomach.”
“The stories in there are horrific,” he said. “The idea that we’re going to solve this problem by punishing children that come into this country. That is not America. That is not the spirit of what we did on D-Day. It’s wrong. And if you want to fix this problem, how about some comprehensive immigration reform, a guest worker program and how about helping all those countries where people are in trouble, physically being threatened, help them out there to stop this, so they don’t have to leave their country.”
Instead of undertaking that strategy, Trump is wasting his energy on a fruitless, self-inflicted trade war, Kasich said.
“The idea is not to have people coming in the country. So, the president slaps a tariff on Mexico, which makes Mexico poorer, so then all the sudden Mexicans say ‘I’ll cross the border to get a job in the United States,'” explained Kasich, highlighting the absurdity of Trump’s tariff gambit. “That’s number one. Number two, it’s going to raise prices for everybody and it’s ridiculous. The president is using this as a weapon. Do I think [the tariff] is going to go [into effect] on Monday? Who knows?.”
In the past few days, even members of the normally lockstep Republican Senate have publicly expressed misgivings over the prospect of placing tariffs on Mexican imports. Though Kasich remained dubious that they would follow through on their hint that they would buck the president, he did say angry constituents who are feeling the pinch of higher prices and complaining loudly to Congress might overwhelm any partisan fealty to Trump.
“Senators are all upset and worked up. Are they going to be tough enough to say this to him when he comes home? Or are they going to cave? ” Kasich wondered. “I haven’t been too impressed with their ability to stand up and speak out. We’ll have to see. All politics are local, Tip O’Neill said that. It’s true. When all the sudden the farmers and ranchers and the auto dealers tell you you’re killing they’re business, senators go: ‘Well, I’m very concerned about this.'”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
