The Mexican people don't want Donald Trump to visit, despite an invitation from President Enrique Peña Nieto, former Mexico president Vicente Fox declared Wednesday — calling the meeting a "political stunt."
In a fiery interview on CNN's "New Day" Wednesday morning, Fox apologized for the visit, which comes hours ahead of Trump's planned policy speech on immigration.
"I don't understand what's going on here, and I really apologize for our president taking this step forward," Fox said. "I really expect from him, as all 130 million Mexicans, all of our great brother Mexicans in the United States, an explanation from both, from President Peña and Trump himself."
If Peña Nieto is seen as "going soft" on the businessman, Fox further warned, "it will hurt him greatly. He will even be considered like a traitor because we don't accept to be offended."
"I think this is a big mistake on the part of President Peña," he added.
The blunt-speaking Fox — who in February dropped an F-bomb while vowing that Mexico would not pay for the wall Trump promises to build along the U.S. southern border — began his CNN interview by saying Trump "is not welcome to Mexico."
"We don't want him, we don't like him, we reject his message," he said. "I think it's nothing more than a political stunt.
"Trump is using Mexico, is using President Pena to boost his sinking poll numbers," Fox continued. "I think that President Pena is taking an enormous political risk by hosting Trump. If he's perceived as going soft on Trump, it will hurt him greatly."
Fox also used the interview to accuse Trump of lying to the American people.
"You cannot cheat people. You have to be straight. You have to speak the truth," Fox said, adding that he hopes Americans will "finally see what is behind Trump, this false prophet that is just cheating everybody."
"How can we grant confidence and support to ideas that change every day?" he added. "He's cynical. He continues to disregard [his] own people and disregard Mexicans."
Fox said he hoped Pena Nieto "will take a very firm stand" and call on Trump to apologize to Mexicans.
Trump responded on Twitter, noting the Fox himself had invited Trump to come to Mexico.
But Fox pushed back in his own tweet, telling Trump that he invited Trump to come to the country to apologize:
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