Brzezinski Cautions Critics Of Trump's Characterization Of Mexican Immigrants As Criminals And Rapists: “You Have To Be Careful” With Words

Mika Brzezinski: “I'm Certainly Not Jumping To Trump's Defense Here But ... I'm Not Sure That's Exactly What He Said”

From The October 28 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe: 

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WILLIE GEIST (HOST): Mr. Aguilar, do you agree, I know you don't like Donald Trump's rhetoric and I know you don't like most of his policy proposals, but do you agree with him that illegal immigration is a big problem in the United States?

ALFONSO AGUILAR: Oh, absolutely. But I think he's saying much more than that. It would be very naive to say that he's just saying that it's a problem. He's saying things like the majority of undocumented immigrants for Mexico are rapists and criminals and we have to deport everyone. That is absolutely ridiculous. I've worked in the Department of Homeland Security for six years and I don't know of one serious law enforcement official that believes that we can deport every single undocumented immigrant. He's just not a serious candidate and he's just saying that, feeding red meat to a base within the conservative base of the Republican Party but he's not going to get the support of Latino voters and as we were saying Latinos are going to be decisive in this election.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (HOST): Sir, if we could be careful on both sides of this and I'm certainly not jumping to Trump's defense here but you just made two comments that, I'm sorry,where did he say those exact words?

JOE SCARBOROUGH (HOST): What, that most rapists?

BRZEZINSKI: He said that all are rapists?

JOE SCARBOROUGH (HOST): I don't think that's exactly what he said, is it?

BREZINSKI: I'm not sure sure that's exactly what he said. I don't wan't to get into an argument over it.

AGUILAR: Let's be fair.

BRZEZINSKI: You have to be careful as well with words.

AGUILAR: Well, I am very careful. If you talk to Latino communities, that's what they understood. He said they're criminals and rapists. And then he said some may be good people. What do you assume from that that he's saying? That he's saying that the majority are bad people. Regardless of how you interpret his comments, he's continuously attacking undocumented immigrants, making generalizations that are unfair. I mean if you want to win their vote, if you want to win the vote of a political block, in this case Latino voters, you don't insult them.

SCARBOROUGH: Right, that usually is a pretty good rule.

Related:

Trump: “When Mexico Sends Its People ... They're Bringing Drugs. They're Bringing Crime. They're Rapists” 

Previously:

Fox News Rallies To Defend Donald Trump After NBC Announces Split

O'Reilly Gives Donald Trump A Platform To Continue Calling Latin American Immigrants Rapists And Criminals 

“They Are Killers”: Fox's Megyn Kelly Allows GOP Presidential Hopeful Donald Trump To Vilify Mexican Immigrants