Immigration, "the central issue feeding populism around the globe," CNN's Fareed Zakaria said Sunday, has the Democratic party becoming "more extreme" than ever, labeling reformist attempts racist, and ostensibly pushing people to "embrace the real racists."
"Donald Trump, remember, beat 16 talented Republican candidates because he outflanked them all on one issue: immigration; meanwhile, Democrats continue to move left on economics, believing that this will make them more credible populists," Zakaria said in Sunday's opening monologue on CNN's "GPS." "But polling shows the public's already with them on economic issues. Where it and the working class especially differs with them is on immigration, and yet, the party is now more extreme on this topic than it has ever been."
Zakaria, a frequent critic of President Trump, did say the president addresses immigration in "ways that, to me, seem racist," but it does not change the reality Democrats have pushed too far opposite – opposite of the American public even.
"Positions that dozens of Democratic senators took on immigration 10 years ago are now totally rejected by almost every Democratic party leader," Zakaria continued. "Most, for example, would have agreed that America's current mix of immigration skews too heavily toward family unification and needs to attract more immigrants with skills. Now none will speak on the issue.
"The [Democratic] party today embraces sanctuary cities, suggesting that local authorities should ignore federal laws or even defy federal authorities who try to enforce the law of the land. Imagine if Republican mayors did the same with regard to laws they don't like, on say guns or abortion.
"It is difficult to be moderate on any topic these days, most of all immigration."
Zakaria concluded with a call for "some sensible middle ground," or else risking the public to "embrace the real racists."
"Let's be honest: The scale and speed of immigration over the last few decades is a real issue," he said. "Just since 1990, the share of foreign born people in America has gone from 9 percent to 15 percent. It's nearly doubled in Germany and the Netherlands. It's nearly tripled in Denmark. Most of the new immigrants come from more cultures that are distant and different. Societies can only take so much change in a generation.
"If mainstream politicians do not recognize these realities – and insist that those who speak of them are racists – they will only push the public in its desperation to embrace the real racists, of which there are many."
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