For the better half of the last year, Donald Trump has juggled running for president and disparaging the Latino community. On June 16, 2015, he kicked off his presidential bid by threatening to deport 11 million undocumented people, and he summed up his immigration platform by saying he’d build a wall between Mexico and the United States.
His offensive ideas have certainly gained him enough of a following to carry him to the doorstep of the presidency. But he’s also seen a lot of push back from those who cannot tolerate the message of hate and intolerance that he’s disguised under the banner of “Make America Great Again.” The catchphrase has come to define his campaign. First used by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Trump has used these words to not so subtly hint at returning to a time that sucked for people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities.
While he continues to espouse regressive ideas, The Gregory Brothers have edited footage of the 1980 debate between Reagan and George H.W. Bush to include a present-day Trump. The manipulated 2 minute and 20-second video shows that even in 1980, Trump’s immigration platform would have been extreme. Reagan and Bush use insulting words like illegal aliens, but the two maintain that a wall isn’t the solution. They even sound more progressive than some present-day Democrats.
“Rather than making them or talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems, make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit and then while they’re working and earning here, they pay taxes here,” Reagan said. Bush, meanwhile, called Mexicans good people.
In this fictitious debate, Trump uses the terms anchor babies and groups Mexicans as rapists and thieves – all words he’s actually used during the 2016 election. Check out the video below to see how even by 80s standards, Trump’s words are dated.