Trump's racism and xenophobia is his trademark: Analyst

US President Donald Trump’s “racism and xenophobia is his trademark and it certainly works against him even among swing voters, suburban voters” and independent voters, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday while commenting on a poll which shows President Trump's hardline positions on immigration are contributing to his plunging poll numbers.

The poll on attitudes on immigration shows a stark divide between 57 percent of respondents who said they are most troubled by "cruel and inhumane immigration policies," versus 43 percent who said they are most bothered by "open border immigration policies," The Hill reported.

The poll, which was released on Thursday, was conducted by Democratic pollster Global Strategy Group and commissioned by three immigrant advocacy groups, FWD.us, The Immigration Hub and America's Voice.

Policies like family separation at the border and the Trump administration's attempts to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are driving voters, particularly independents, away from the president, according to the poll.

DACA is a US immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the US.

“The president’s electoral prospects are dimming as more and more Americans take a sledgehammer to his anti-immigrant political playbook. He is employing a losing electoral strategy that aligns with a micro-minority of public attitudes toward immigration,” said Alida Garcia, vice president of advocacy at FWD.us.

Hoenig said, “It is unusual that immigration would be an issue that’s dragging Trump’s numbers down as he has never had ‘good numbers’ except from his base on this. Starting with the Muslim ban as soon as he took office, and then with the incarceration and separation of families at the border, his approval on this issue has only gotten worse- again, except from his base.”

“Trump’s racism and xenophobia is his trademark and it certainly works against him even among swing voters, suburban voters and others who can’t always be pinned down as a guaranteed voter for one party or another. The real issue for the Trump campaign is how to show that Biden is just as racist as he is, to neutralize this issue,” he added.

“As part of the Obama administration, Biden too was very anti-immigrant, deporting millions and separating families as well at the border. Because the mainstream media generally favors the Democrats’ policies, they easily looked the other way when they do things only Republicans are expected to do. But when the Republicans do the same, they are a target and given much publicity. The reverse is true. We see that today on the issue of the Border Patrol and other agents of the Department of Homeland Security go goose stepping in Portland and acting like Trump’s praetorian guard, there is rarely a mention of how these actions have been initiated, sanctioned, and occurred under the Obama administration,” the analyst said.

“Trump’s numbers are down on immigration now but by November the focus will unlikely be on it. Perhaps DACA recipients might be able to come up in forefront of media coverage but with a raging pandemic along with failed federal leadership, and whatever the consequences of the police state tactics Trump’s employing in cities controlled by the Democrats, immigration is not likely to be front and center,” he noted.

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