President Donald Trump offered his most extensive assessment yet of historic Republican losses in an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday evening, appearing to extend an invitation to Democrats to work together on the contentious issue of immigration.
Trump took no personal blame for the wipeout, despite his record unpopularity. He said GOP candidates weren’t able to translate his popularity to their own races.
And while he acknowledged areas where his record was unpopular, he made clear he wasn’t in a conciliatory mood on most issues as Democrats prepare to take majorities on Congress.
As he assessed why Republicans fared so poorly in last week’s elections, Trump named Iran and bad messaging as the primary culprits. But he also acknowledged that his administration’s crackdown on immigration that saw thousands of undocumented migrants arrested and deported was unpopular, and in his view went too far.
“It was too tough. I think it might be too tough,” Trump said, citing in particular immigrants who have been in the country for ten years or more without committing serious crimes.
It was a striking acknowledgement from the president that a topic he ran on in 2024 has, in two years, become politically toxic. Behind the scenes, Trump has expressed misgivings at some of the tactics his administration has employed in rounding up migrants.
Still, it’s unclear whether Trump is considering any changes to his immigration agenda, even after conceding it was too hard-line. He just named the architect of the policies, Stephen Miller, as his new chief of staff.
Credit: cnn.com
