Donald Trump pushed back on claims that the Republican Party had pressured him to “tone it down” in the wake of growing outrage over the presidential candidate’s remarks on immigration.
A source familiar with the conversation told NBC News Wednesday that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus asked Trump to pull back his rhetoric on immigration during a nearly hour-long phone call on a wide range of topics.
But Trump says the phone call was only “10 minutes” and that Priebus had not censured him.
Totally false reporting on my call with @Reince Priebus. He called me, ten minutes, said I hit a “nerve", doing well, end!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2015The call – however it went down – is the latest in the weeks-long controversy over Trump’s repeated claims that Mexican immigrants illegally crossing the border into the U.S. are often criminals and “rapists.”
In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his stance. “There’s nothing to apologize for,” he said.
“I’ll win the Latino vote because I’ll create jobs. I’ll create jobs and the Latinos will have jobs they didn’t have, I’ll do better on that vote than anybody, I will win that vote,” Trump added.
Jane Timm