Brewer stands by Trump assessment of Mexican rapists, white power rally
Aug 16, 2017, 9:24 AM | Updated: 12:29 pm
PHOENIX — Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the constant media scrutiny of President Donald Trump, including his responses to the deadly violence at a white supremacists rally were “sour grapes” and it was time to move on.
Brewer, appearing on a CNN panel Tuesday night with host Don Lemon and Republican strategist Ana Navarro, also agreed with Trump’s widely repeated campaign statement that Mexican immigrants were rapists.
“The fact of the matter is, being a border governor, we know that we’re not getting the best of what Mexico can send to us,” Brewer said.
“We know that the drug cartels are down there, we know that the rapists are coming across and then they go to sanctuary cities and then they head back and come back here again.
“This is America, America (sic) people ought to be protected also.”
The president has been criticized for saying that there were two sides to every story after violence erupted at a white supremacist rally in Virginia. Beside fighting, a young man drove a car into a crowd of anti-discrimination marchers, killing one and injuring over a dozen others.
The interview became increasingly antagonistic.
A feisty Brewer said Trump’s response Saturday, in which he did not immediately denounce hate groups and blamed both sides, was “fine.” He later called out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as “criminals” and “repugnant.”
The longtime supporter of the president said his Tuesday follow-up, when he went back to saying both sides were responsible for the violent clash, was “terrific.”
“I think that he took the bull by the horns,” Brewer said. “He spoke from his heart. And you know, this relentless reporting and this relentless attacking of him, is not serving our country or the issues that we talk about well.”
An exasperated Brewer pointed out the president said bigotry had to end and that he had repeatedly denounced the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis.
“I am old. You know, I’m 72 years old. I’ve lived through a lot of this. And I denounce the Ku Klux Klan. You know, I think they’re terrible. I think what happened in Charlottesville was horrible.
“But the fact of the matter is, is that there were groups there to the far left and to the far right, call them what you want.
“… No one ever talks about the left. I mean, it was a bad situation. It’s not America. We have got to come together and we’ve got to stop all this.”