For anyone wondering whether Donald Trump is "softening" or "hardening" his views on immigration, he came down solidly on the "hardening" side in Wednesday night's speech in Phoenix, Arizona. The softening talk appeared briefly after Trump and the Republican National Committee met on Aug. 20 with Trump's National Hispanic Advisory Council, and at least one of the members of that group, Jacob Monty, dropped out after Trump's immigration speech. "I was a strong supporter of Donald Trump when I believed he was going to address the immigration problem realistically and compassionately," Monty told Politico. "What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate."
Another high profile Latino Trump supporter, Alfonso Aguilar, the president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, was similarly unimpressed, telling Politico, "I can tell you there's a real possibility we will withdraw support from Donald Trump because of that disappointing speech." This is only two big Latino former Trump backers, but Trump doesn't have that many to spare, and there may be more to come.
On the other hand, the people who supported Trump's earlier hard line on immigration — Team Hardening — were pleased, including the crew at Breitbart News and a certain U.S. Senate candidate from Louisiana:
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