Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani has come to the defense of embattled presidential candidate Donald Trump after his generalization that all Mexican immigrants are “rapists.”
“Donald’s a friend of mine. I respect him. He is an unbiased man,” Giuliani told MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Tuesday night before explaining that he believes Trump made his point in reverse.
“What he should have said is that most people who come across the border come across the border for economic reasons,” Giuliani said. “But hidden with them, because they’re coming across unchecked, are people who rape people, murder people, kill people, and are terrorists.”
He also said that both parties have failed to find common ground on the immigration issue. “Republicans want to secure the border, which could be done with about 20,000 border patrol agents, 50 miles apart, stop them from coming in,” Giuliani said.
“Then on the other side, you have to allow people to come in with visas so they can do the jobs that have to be done in America,” he continued. “If you were to literally close the border you might as well give up the wine industry in California.”
Giuliani pressed on, saying that the company’s that have dumped Trump as a result of his comments are overdoing it. “It’s a pile-on. I don’t agree with Donald’s comment, as I said. I would say it totally differently,” he said. “The conclusion that he comes to, that we have a porous border that needs to be controlled better, is the correct conclusion.”
Watch the whole interview below.