Trump lies so much that my default position is to not believe anything he says unless otherwise verified. I remember a time when if a president had said a caravan of immigrants was heading to our southern border, I would have automatically believed him. I am not naive, and sometimes presidents or people in the administration do spin facts or interpret events in a way to support a narrative. However, on most simple statements of fact, I did not think most presidents or administrative spokesmen just made stuff up.
Ever since the claim that the 2020 election was stolen and the resulting coup attempt based on that lie, I have not trusted anything the President says. The claim that Haitian refugees were eating the cats and dogs further reinforced my default position that anything the President says is suspect for truthfulness and that he just makes stuff up. In this case, however, the President is telling the truth. A caravan is heading north, made up of about 1000 people. As far as immigrant caravans go, this is a modest one. The peak period for immigrant caravans was 2018, when one caravan had an estimated 7,000 people.
Apparently, the Republican defeat in the midterms gave impetus to the immigrants to make the journey, thinking that with Democrats to take control of Congress, they might be granted entry. The midterm flip to Democrats controlling the legislative branch will not, of course, change border policy. The immigrants will not be granted entry, and they should not be. We need to control our borders and we will.
If this were a normal president, this news of a caravan heading north would barely be newsworthy. It would be reported as this one is, but it would not be amplified. This would be handled diplomatically with Mexico, and if Mexico failed to turn the caravan back, then Mexico would have the problem of dealing with immigrants stuck in Mexico huddled on the border. I suspect President Trump is seeking anything to deflect from his ass-kicking defeat in the midterm elections, and he wants to keep his base riled up. A thousand unarmed men, women, and children seeking entry into America with nothing but the clothes on their backs is hardly an "invasion," but that is the kind of language Trumpinistas like to hear.
The President's response to this attempted "invasion" is to impose an additional tax on the American people and suppress economic activity. One of the President's favorite lies is that other nations pay for tariffs. He has said it so much that many of his supporters believe it. The tariff is paid by the importer, and the importer passes on that increase in the cost of doing business to the consumer, which results in an increase in prices, which most people think of as inflation. Also, since some inputs in American manufactured goods come from Mexico, a doubling of tariffs can suppress American production. Additionally, Mexico is likely to impose retaliatory tariffs, reducing American exports. This is not smart; of course, I have never thought of Donald J. Trump as smart.
To put it mildly, the President's response to a caravan heading toward our border is to punish the American people. The Toddler-in-Chief is going to hold his breath until his face turns blue, and you will pay more for avocados.
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