Trump's praise of Latino immigration official for speaking ‘perfect English’ draws backlash
Donald Trump's praise for a Latino US Border Patrol agent, who he said "speaks perfect English," has been met with fierce backlash from his critics.
The president introduced Adrian Anzaldua during an event honouring members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Custom and Border Protection (CBP), celebrating the border patrol agent for discovering 78 undocumented immigrants held inside a smuggler’s trailer.
"Adrian, come here, I want to ask you a question. So — how did you — Come here, c’mere," he began, as Mr Anzaldua made his way to the podium. "You’re not nervous, are you? Speaks perfect English! Come here."
Mr Anzaldua went on to shake the president’s hand and describe what happened when he located the group of migrants, saying, "I quickly asked for backup, and backup got there, and the subjects were transported back to...the checkpoint, and all of them were in good health".
However, by Tuesday morning, the focus did not appear to be on Mr Anzaldua’s actions, but rather Mr Trump’s comments regarding his fluency in the English language.
The praise was described as "offensive" and “derogatory” by Twitter users and political analysts, who also noted that the president repeatedly referred to the CBP as "CBC," which actually stands for the Congressional Black Caucus.
Trump started his campaign calling Mexicans “rapists” and “murderers.” Of course he will say that a Latino border agent “speaks perfect English.” Dude has been a racist since day one.
Thanks @Omarosa, but we don’t need your tapes. We’ve already know.— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) August 20, 2018
In case you've forgotten, because it was less than 12 hours ago and Trump is our President and there's chaos every 6 hours, he was honoring the CBP today and kept calling it the CBC. He also said a Latino CBP agent speaks "perfect English." As if he were a unicorn. Carry on.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) August 21, 2018
“Speaks perfect English,” #Trump blurted out as he asked Adrian Anzaldua, a Hispanic-American Border agent, to join him onstage.
-exhibit # 999,999 showing 45 to be both a racist and a moron— Allen Marshall (@AllenCMarshall) August 21, 2018
Trump blown away to find that an Hispanic-American Border agent speaks perfect English. Hispanic-American Border agent unsurprised to see that Trump does not.
— Touré (@Toure) August 21, 2018
If "Speaks perfect English" is Donald Trump's idea of high praise, I'm afraid I have some bad news for Donald Trump.
— Elliott Downing (@elliott_downing) August 21, 2018
Mr Trump has repeatedly drawn backlash for his comments towards minorities and the Hispanic community.
He kicked off his 2016 presidential campaign by describing Mexicans who migrate to the US as “rapists” and "criminals," degraded a Mexican American judge and questioned his ability to serve in his role due to his heritage, along with a host of other controversial statements he’s made regarding other ethnicities.
"Between the constant references to 'CBC' and the weirdly patronizing comment about Anzaldua, the event left the distinct impression that the actual agents of ICE and CBP aren’t really the people Trump cares about," wrote Vox’s Dara Lind.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.