Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker executed an "Olympics quality flip-flop" on immigration on Monday in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck, according to a former aide to the 2016 Republican presidential prospect.
The ex-staffer, Liz Mair, commented on Twitter:
Walker has previously said he supports opening a pathway to residency for immigrants who came here illegally — a position that resonates with the country's growing Hispanic electorate but has less support among the core Republican voters who decide presidential primaries.
Of late Walker has backed away from his earlier position,
Politico reports.
"My view has changed," he told Fox News in March.
On Monday, Walker told Beck:
"The next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost, on protecting American workers and American wages."
He said many politicians overlook the downward pressure that illegal immigration is exerting on Americans' job prospects and wages — "and we need to have that be the forefront of our discussion going forward," he said.
The interview triggered a mini-uproar among Republicans, Politico reports.
Mair, who resigned in March over Twitter posts
criticizing Iowa's influence in the GOP primaries, also wrote on Monday that she is "extraordinarily glad I don’t have to defend a) that level of policy gymnastics or b) that specific dubious policy."
The Daily Caller's Matt Lewis called Walker's position "a demagogic pander," Politico reports.
But Politico notes Rich Lowry of National Review defended the governor, writing, "Walker should take the shots as a compliment, and hopefully, the rest of the field will begin to think and talk about immigration the same way."
"Governor Walker supports American workers’ wages and the U.S. economy and thinks both should be considered when crafting a policy for legal immigration," AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for Walker’s Our American Revival PAC, told Politico.
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