Former Mexican President Vicente Fox once again tore into Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying he is a demagogic politician much like former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Argentina's Juan and Eva Peron — and there's still no way Mexico is going to pay for Trump's border wall.
"Oh, please, give me a break," Fox told MSBNC's "Morning Joe" program. "I mean, it's a crazy, wild, stupid idea. We've been building a partnership between Mexico and the United States. We exchange so much in trade, close to a trillion U.S. dollars. One million people goes back and forth the border. Many Americans come to Mexico. Many, many Mexicans call me to invest, to trade with the United States."
He further commented that Trump's language reminds him of the old Latin American demagogue leaders.
"We suffered from that all along the 20th century," Fox said "and I'm surprised this nation is going back to the old days of the gringo feo, of the ugly American but also going back to populism."
Also, he told the program that immigrants are no longer pouring as much over the border, as many Mexicans are returning to Mexico, where there are new job opportunities.
"It is meaningless to build the wall, like he said the greatness of the Chinese wall," said Fox. "This ignorant doesn't even know that the Chinese wall failed, thoroughly failed. The Mongols got in and conquered China. This is a stupid idea so please wake up America. Look at the proposals of a false prophet."
Mexico, meanwhile, loves the United States, said Fox, and wants to keep its strong partnerships alive.
"We contribute to this nation when we buy from the United States," said Fox. "It represents 10 million jobs for American citizens. If you stopped NAFTA, 10 million Americans will lose their jobs."
The United States is "great already," Fox said, making a play on Trump's campaign battle cry, and ridiculed the idea of a trade war with Mexico or China.
"He doesn't understand that the U.S. economy has a deficit with every single economy in the world and he's not going to go to war with everybody," said Fox. "I work with 95 former heads of states ...We are now in one solid front against this man. This is not the voice of United States. This is not the voice of a compassionate leadership. This is not the voice of a brilliant leader which would be world leader, not only president of the United States."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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