Donald Trump says that he has great respect for the Mexican people, and that his criticisms over the problems at the border are really aimed at the Mexican government.
"The good people come, and they're great people. They're better than good people. I love the Mexican people," Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday night. "They have tremendous spirit. They have tremendous vibrance and life."
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Trump has faced backlash for comments he made when he announced his White House bid, and he criticized the government for immigration problems the country is facing at the border, when he said that "they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Trump told Fox News that when he made those comments, he was "talking about the country of Mexico, the government of Mexico."
"They're sending us criminals. Instead of putting them in their jails, they're sending them to us. They're sending us drug dealers, and people that have lots of other problems," he said.
The real estate mogul says that Mexico sends "them to the United States" because "the United States has very stupid leaders, and stupid leadership, bad negotiators."
And, as a result "we take them and we put them in prisons. And sometimes we have to put them in hospitals. And we take care of them."
The presidential hopeful also went after his fellow presidential contenders for their positions on immigration, including Hillary Clinton and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"Jeb Bush is a joke on immigration,"
Trump said, criticizing the Florida Republican for saying that immigration is an "act of love."
"This has nothing to do with love. This is very serious stuff. You have some very serious situations coming over here," he said. "They are taking people that should be in Mexican prisons, Mexican jails, and they're pushing them into the United States.
"These are dangerous people, and you saw that in San Francisco," Trump added, referring to the murder of Kate Steinle, who was allegedly shot by an illegal immigrant who had reportedly been deported five times.